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Satyameva Jayate

atanu

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Premium Member
"Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit: सत्यमेव जयते satyam-eva jayate; lit. "Truth alone triumphs") is a part of a mantra from the ancient Hindu scripture Mundaka Upanishad. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India on 26 January 1950.

I am reproducing the verse 3.1.6 of Mundka Upanishad along with the commentary of Shi Shankaracharya.

Mundka Upanishad 3.1.6
satyameva jayate nānṛtaṃ satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |
yenākramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā yatra tat satyasya paramaṃ nidhānam || 6 ||

Truth alone wins, not falsehood; by truth, the Devayanah (the path of the Devas) is widened, that by which the seers travel on, having nothing to wish for to where there is that—the highest treasure attained by the truth.

Shankara’s Commentary
Com.—Truth alone, i.e., he who speaks the truth alone, wins; not he who utters falsehood, for there can be neither victory nor defeat between abstract truth and falsehood where they do not cling to men. It is well known in the world that he who utters falsehood is defeated by him who speaks the truth; not the converse. Therefore, it is established that truth is a strong auxiliary; again, the superiority of truth as aid is also known from the sastras; how? It is only by truth, i.e., by a determination to speak what had occurred, the road named “Devayanah” (the way of the gods) is widened; i.e., is kept up continually; by which road, seers free from deceit, delusion, fraud, pride, vanity and falsehood and having no desires, go about to where the absolute truth, the highest treasure covetable by man and attainable by the important aid, truth, exists. The expression “where the greatest, etc.,” is connected with the preceding clause “the road by which they go is widened by the truth.” What that is and what its characteristics are, will be explained.

The motto 'Satyameva Jayate' - Truth Alone Triumphs - is written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital which is part of the State Emblem of India." The problem has been that some government agencies have omitted the expression Satyameva Jayate for long. But the physical omission of the text is not so much damaging as renouncing the essence itself — in actions and in the heart.

This particularly is the case in the present time when fake news, clipped videos and/or misleading videos from different space and time are shared to create false narratives.

Mundaka Upanishad, however, says 'Satyameva Jayate' and not 'Satyameva Jayati'. The latter also means truth alone triumphs. Experts who know Sanskrit tell us that those verbs are of two types, parasmaipadi and atmanepadi, and there are some verbs that can be both.

A parasmaipadi verb is used when you are doing something for someone else. An atmanepadi verb is used when you are doing something for yourself.

The Mundka Upanishad form is of atmanepadi type which means that the teaching is to be applied primarily to oneself. Victory comes to he self that adheres to 'Satyameva Jayate’.

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