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Satya
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Satya (Sanskrit: सत्य; IAST: Satya) is a

Sanskrit word loosely translated as truth,
essence.[3][4] It also refers to a virtue in
Indian religions, referring to being truthful
in one's thoughts, speech and action.[5] In
Yoga, satya is one of five yamas, the
virtuous restraint from falsehood and
distortion of reality in one's expressions
and actions.[6]

Etymology and meaning

In the Vedas and later sutras, the meaning
of the word satya (सत्य) evolves into an
ethical concept about truthfulness and is
considered an important virtue.[5][7] It
means being true and consistent with
reality in one's thought, speech, and
action.[5] Satya is an important concept and virtue in Indian religions.
Rigveda, dated to be from the 2nd millennium BC, offers the
Satya is said to have cognates in a number earliest discussion of Satya.[1][2] It can be seen, for
of diverse Indo-European languages, example, in the fifth and sixth lines, in above Rigveda
including the word "sooth" and "sin" in manuscript image.
English, "istina" ("истина") in Russian,
"sand" - truthful in Danish/"sann" in
Swedish, and "haithya" in Avestan, the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism.[8][9][10]

Sat

Sat (Sanskrit: सत्) is the root of many Sanskrit words and concepts such as sattva, "pure, truthful",
and satya, "truth". The Sanskrit root sat has several meanings or translations:.[11] [12]

1. "Absolute truth"
2. "Reality
3. "Brahman" (not to be confused with Brahmin)
4. "unchangeable"
5. "that which has no distortion"
6. "that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person"
7. "that which pervades the universe in all its constancy"

Sat is a common prefix in ancient Indian literature and variously implies that which is good, true,
genuine, virtuous, being, happening, real, existing, enduring, lasting, or essential; for example, sat-
sastra means true doctrine, sat-van means one devoted to the truth.[13][14] In ancient texts, fusion
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words based on Sat, refer to "Universal Spirit, Universal Principle, Being, Soul of the World,
Brahman".[15][16]

The negation of sat is asat, a combination word of a and sat. Asat refers to the opposite of sat, that
is delusion, distorted, untrue, the fleeting impression that is incorrect, invalid, and false.[17][18] The
concepts of sat and asat are famously expressed in the Pavamana Mantra found in the
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (1.3.28),

Asato mā sad gamaya / tamaso mā jyotir gamaya / mṛtyor mā amṛtam gamaya

"lead me from delusion to truth; from darkness to light; from mortality to immortality"

Sat is one of the three characteristics of Brahman as described in sat-chit-ananda.[16] This

association between sat, 'truth', and Brahman, ultimate reality, is also expressed in Hindu
cosmology, wherein Satyaloka, the highest heaven of Hindu cosmology, is the abode of Brahman.

Hinduism

Vedic literature

Satya is a central theme in the Vedas. It is equated with and considered necessary to the concept
Ṛta (Sanskrit ऋतं ṛtaṃ) – that which is properly joined, order, rule, nature, balance, harmony.[1][19]
Ṛta results from Satya in the Vedas, states Holdrege,[20] as it regulates and enables the operation
of the universe and everything within it. Satya (truth) is considered essential, and without it, the
universe and reality falls apart, cannot function.[20]

In Rigveda, opposed to rita and satya are anrita and asatya (falsehood).[1] Truth and truthfulness
is considered as a form of reverence for the divine, while falsehood a form of sin. Satya includes
action and speech that is factual, real, true and reverent to Ṛta in Book 1, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10 of
Rigveda.[2] However, Satya isn't merely about one's past that is in context in the Vedas, it has one's
current and one's future contexts as well. De Nicolás states, that in Rigveda, "Satya is the modality
of acting in the world of Sat, as the truth to be built, formed or established".[2]

Upanishads

Satya is a widely discussed concept in various Upanishads, including the Brihadaranyaka

Upanishad where satya is called the means to Brahman, as well as Brahman (Being, true
self).[21][22] In hymn 1.4.14 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Satya (truth) is equated to Dharma
(morality, ethics, law of righteousness),[23] as

Nothing is higher than the Law of Righteousness (Dharma). The weak overcomes the
stronger by the Law of Righteousness. Truly that Law is the Truth (Satya); Therefore,
when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks Righteousness"; and if he speaks
Righteousness, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are one.

— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, I.4.xiv [22][23]

Taittiriya Upanishad's hymn 11.11 states,[24] "Speak the Satya (truth), conduct yourself according to
the Dharma (morality, ethics, law)".[23]

Truth is sought, praised in the hymns of Upanishads, held as one that ultimately, always prevails.
The Mundaka Upanishad, for example, states in Book 3, Chapter 1,[25]
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सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं[26]

Translation 1: Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood.[27]
Translation 2: Truth ultimately triumphs, not falsehood.[28]
Translation 3: The true prevails, not the untrue.[29]

— Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.6[25]

Sandilya Upanishad of Atharvanaveda, in Chapter 1, includes ten[30] forbearances as virtues, in its

exposition of Yoga. It defines Satya as "the speaking of the truth that conduces to the well being of
creatures, through the actions of one's mind, speech or body."[31]

Deussen states that Satya is described in the major Upanishads with two layers of meanings - one
as empirical truth about reality, another as abstract truth about universal principle, being and the
unchanging. Both these ideas are explained in early Upanishads, composed before 500 BC, by
variously breaking the word satya or satyam into two or three syllables. In later Upanishads, the
ideas evolve and transcend into satya as truth (or truthfulness), and Brahman as the Being, Be-
ness, real Self, the eternal.[32]

Epics

The Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata states, "The righteous hold that forgiveness, truth, sincerity
and compassion are the foremost (of all virtues). Truth is the essence of the Vedas."[33]

The Epic repeatedly emphasizes that Satya is a basic virtue, because everything and everyone
depends on and relies on Satya.[34]

सत्यस्य वचनं साधु न सत्याद विद्यते परम

सत्येन विधृतं सर्वं सर्वं सत्ये परतिष्ठितम
अपि पापकृ तॊ रौद्राः सत्यं कृ त्वा पृथक पृथक
अद्रॊहम अविसंवादं परवर्तन्ते तदाश्रयाः
ते चेन मिथॊ ऽधृतिं कु र्युर विनश्येयुर असंशयम
To speak the truth is meritorious. There is nothing higher than truth. Everything is
upheld by truth, and everything rests upon truth. Even the sinful and ferocious, swear
to keep the truth amongst themselves, dismiss all grounds of quarrel and uniting with
one another set themselves to their (sinful) tasks, depending upon truth. If they
behaved falsely towards one another, they would then be destroyed without doubt.

— The Mahabharata, Chapter CCLIX, Shanti Parva[34]

Yoga Sutras

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is written, “When one is firmly established in speaking truth, the
fruits of action become subservient to him."[35] In Yoga sutra, Satya is one of the five yamas, or
virtuous restraints, along with ahimsa (restraint from violence or injury to any living being); asteya
(restraint from stealing); brahmacharya (celibacy or restraint from sexually cheating on one's
partner); and aparigraha (restraint from covetousness and craving). Patanjali considers satya as a
restraint from falsehood in one's action (body), words (speech, writing), or feelings / thoughts
(mind).[6][36] In Patanjali's teachings, one may not always know the truth or the whole truth, but

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one knows if one is creating, sustaining or expressing falsehood, exaggeration, distortion,

fabrication or deception.[35] Satya is, in Patanjali's Yoga, the virtue of restraint from such
falsehood, either through silence or through stating the truth without any form of distortion.[37]

Jainism
Satya is one of the five vows prescribed in Jain Agamas. Satya was also preached by
Mahavira.[38][39] According to Jainism, not to lie or speak what is not commendable.[40] The
underlying cause of falsehood is passion and therefore, it is said to cause hiṃsā (injury).[41]

According to the Jain text Sarvārthasiddhi: "that which causes pain and suffering to the living is
not commendable, whether it refers to actual facts or not".[42]

According to Jain text, Puruşārthasiddhyupāya:[43]

All these subdivisions (injury, falsehood, stealing, unchastity, and attachment) are
hiṃsā as indulgence in these sullies the pure nature of the soul. Falsehood etc. have
been mentioned separately only to make the disciple understand through illustrations.

— Puruşārthasiddhyupāya (42)

Buddhism
The term satya (Sanskrit; in Pali: sacca) is translated in English as "reality" or "truth." In terms of
the Four Noble Truths (ariyasacca), the Pali can be written as sacca, tatha, anannatatha and
dhamma.

'The Four Noble Truths' (ariya-sacca) are the briefest synthesis of the entire teaching of
Buddhism, since all those manifold doctrines of the threefold Pali canon are, without any
exception, included therein. They are the truth of suffering (mundane mental and physical
phenomenon), of the origin of suffering (tanha 'pali' the craving), of the extinction of suffering
(Nibbana or nirvana), and of the Noble Eightfold Path leading to the extinction of suffering (the
eight supra-mundane mind factors ).

Sikhism

ਜਿਨਾ ਰਾਸਿ ਨ ਸਚੁ ਹੈ ਕਿਉ ਤਿਨਾ ਸੁਖੁ ਹੋਇ ॥

Those who do not have the Assets of Truth-how can they find peace?

ਖੋਟੈ ਵਣਜਿ ਵਣੰਜਿਐ ਮਨੁ ਤਨੁ ਖੋਟਾ ਹੋਇ ॥

By dealing their deals of falsehood, their minds and bodies become false.

ਫਾਹੀ ਫਾਥੇ ਮਿਰਗ ਜਿਉ ਦੂਖੁ ਘਣੋ ਨਿਤ ਰੋਇ ॥੨॥

Like the deer caught in the trap, they suffer in terrible agony; they continually cry
out in pain.

ਖੋਟੇ ਪੋਤੈ ਨਾ ਪਵਹਿ ਤਿਨ ਹਰਿ ਗੁਰ ਦਰਸੁ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥

The counterfeit coins are not put into the Treasury; they do not obtain the Blessed
Vision of the Lord-Guru.

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ਖੋਟੇ ਜਾਤਿ ਨ ਪਤਿ ਹੈ ਖੋਟਿ ਨ ਸੀਝਸਿ ਕੋਇ ॥ खोटे जाति न पति है खोटि न सीझसि कोइ ॥
The false ones have no social status or honor. No one succeeds through
falsehood.

ਖੋਟੇ ਖੋਟੁ ਕਮਾਵਣਾ ਆਇ ਗਇਆ ਪਤਿ ਖੋਇ ॥੩॥

Practicing falsehood again and again, people come and go in reincarnation, and
forfeit their honor.

ਨਾਨਕ ਮਨੁ ਸਮਝਾਈਐ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਸਾਲਾਹ ॥

O Nanak, instruct your mind through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, and praise
the Lord.

ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਤਿਆ ਭਾਰੁ ਨ ਭਰਮੁ ਤਿਨਾਹ ॥

Those who are imbued with the love of the Name of the Lord are not loaded down
by doubt.

ਹਰਿ ਜਪਿ ਲਾਹਾ ਅਗਲਾ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਹਰਿ ਮਨ ਮਾਹ ॥੪॥੨੩॥

Those who chant the Name of the Lord earn great profits; the Fearless Lord
abides within their minds.

— Guru Granth Sahib, 4.23

The Gurmukhs do not like falsehood; they are imbued with Truth; they love only Truth.
The shaaktas, the faithless cynics, do not like the Truth; false are the foundations of the
false. Imbued with Truth, you shall meet the Guru. The true ones are absorbed into the
True Lord.

— Gurubani, Hymn 3, [44]

Indian emblem motto

The motto of the republic of India's emblem is Satyameva Jayate which is
literally translated as 'Truth alone triumphs'.

See also
Sacca – Buddhist term meaning "real" or "true"
Satnam – 'Satnam' was concept of Guru Nanak ji
Satyaloka – Abode of the Hindu god Brahma
Satya Yuga – First of four yugas (ages) in Hindu cosmology
Dharma – Key concept in Indian philosophy and Eastern religions, with
multiple meanings
National Emblem of
Rta – Vedic principle of universal nature order India
Truth – Property of being in accord with fact or reality

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Transcendentals – Truth, beauty, and goodness

Notes

References
1. Roderick Hindery (2004), Comparative Ethics in Hindu and Buddhist Traditions, Motilal
Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120808669, pp. 51–55
2. Antonio T. de Nicolás (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda, ISBN 978-0595269259, pp.
162–164
3. A. A. Macdonell, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Asian Educational Services, ISBN 978-
8120617797, pp. 330–331
4. J. Wentzel Vrede van Huyssteen et al (2003), Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, Thomson
Gale, ISBN 0028657047, p. 405
5. KN Tiwari (1998), Classical Indian Ethical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-
8120816077, p. 87
6. GR Garg, Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 3, ISBN 8170223733, p. 733
7. A Dhand (2002), "The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism",
Journal of Religious Ethics, 30(3), pp. 347–372
8. Dept. of Classics and Ancient History, University of Auckland (1979), Prudentia, Volumes 11–13
(https://books.google.com/books?id=S70RAQAAMAAJ&q=satya), University of Auckland
Bindery, "... The semantic connection may therefore be compared with the Sanskrit term for the
'moral law', dharma (cognate with Latin firmus) and 'truth' satya (cognate with English 'sooth'
and Greek with its well known significance in Plato's thought ..."
9. Charles H. Kahn (2009), Essays on Being (https://books.google.com/books?id=DxE6zOaaGyI
C&pg=PA23), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0191560064, "... A derivative of this participle
still serves as the normal word for 'true' and 'truth' in languages so far apart as Danish sand
and sandhed) and Hindi (sac, satya).4 In English we have a cognate form of this old Indo-
European participle of 'to be' in 'sooth', 'soothsayer' ..."
10. (Editors) Christine Allison, Anke Joisten-Pruschke, Antje Wendtland, Kianoosh Rezania (2009),
From Daēnā to Dîn (https://books.google.com/books?id=VKS_C45BSOAC&pg=PA186), Otto
Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447059176, "... From PIE *snt-ya-, a collective form from *es-
ont- "becoming," present participle of root *es- "to be.</Etymolonline>. Av. haiθya-, from the
verb "to be" - truth in the sense of "the way things actually are" - corresponds to its cognates,
Skt. satya-, Rus. istina ..." {{citation}}: |author= has generic name (help)
11. Sir Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically
Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass,
ISBN 978-8120831056, pp. 1134–1139
12. K. Ishwaran, Ascetic Culture: Renunciation and Worldly Engagement, Brill, ISBN 978-
9004114128, pp. 143–144
13. Arthur Anthony Macdonell, A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-
8120820005, pp. 329–331
14. Sir Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically
Arranged, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120831056, pp. 1134–1139
15. Chaudhuri, H. (1954), "The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy", Philosophy East and
West, 4(1), 47–66
16. Aurobindo & Basu (2002), The Sadhana of Plotinus, Neoplatonism and Indian Philosophy,
State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791452745, pp. 153–156
17. Arthur Anthony Macdonell, A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-
8120820005, p. 34

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18. Sir Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically

Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass,
ISBN 978-8120831056, pp. 1134–1139
19. Joel Beversluis, Sourcebook of the World's Religions, New World Library, ISBN 978-
1577311218, pp. 52–55
20. Barbara Holdrege (2004), "Dharma", in: Mittal, S. & Thursby, G. (Eds.) The Hindu World,
Routledge. ISBN 0415215277, p. 215
21. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.B
hashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n843/mode/2up), Translator: S Madhavananda
22. Charles Johnston, The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, Kshetra, ISBN 978-
1495946530, p. 481, for discussion on Satya and Brahman pp. 491–505, 561–575
23. Paul Horsch (Translated by Jarrod Whitaker), "From Creation Myth to World Law: The early
history of Dharma", Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol 32, pp. 423–448, (2004)
24. Original hymn is: सत्यं वद । धर्मं चर, satyam vada dharmam cara, ॥ तैत्तिरीयोपनिषत् ॥ (http://sanskrit
documents.org/all_sa/tait_sa.html) Sanskrit Documents
25. E. Easwaran (2007), The Upanishads, ISBN 978-1586380212, p. 181
26. Mundaka Upanishad (Sanskrit) (https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/मुण्डकोपनिषद्) Wikisource
27. Ananthamurthy, et al (2008)Compassionate Space (https://www.jstor.org/stable/23006353),
India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 18–23
28. Brij Lal, A Vision for Change: Speeches and Writings of AD Patel 1929–1969, Australian
National University Press, ISBN 978-1921862328, p. xxi
29. Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Mundaka Upanishad (https://archive.org/stream/upanisha
ds02ml#page/38/mode/2up), Oxford University Press, pp. 38–40
30. Patanjali states five restraints, rather than ten. The complete list of 10 forbearances in Sandilya
Upanishad are, in the order they are listed in original Upanishad manuscript: ahimsa, satya,
asteya, brahmacharya, daya, arjava, kshama, dhrti, mitahara and saucha
31. KN Aiyar (Translator), Thirty Minor Upanishads, Madras (1914), pp. 173–174, OCLC 23013613
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23013613)
32. Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads (https://archive.org/stream/philosophyupani0
0deusgoog#page/n6/mode/2up), T&T Clark, Edinburgh, Harvard University Archives, pp. 128–
133
33. Page 392 Mahābhārata: Shanti parva (Mokshadharma parva, ch. 174–365), By Om Nath
Bimali, Ishvar Chandra, Manmatha Nath Dutt
34. MN Dutt (Translator), Mokshadharma Parva (https://archive.org/stream/mahabharataofkri07roy
p#page/342/mode/2up) The Mahabharata, pp. 344–345
35. Patanjali, Sutra Number 2.36, Yoga Sutras 2.30–2.45; B. Ravikanth, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,
ISBN 978-0988251502, pp. 140–150
36. A Palkhivala, "Teaching the Yamas in Asana Class" (http://www.yogajournal.com/article/teach/t
eaching-the-yamas-in-asana-class/) Yoga Journal (August 28, 2007)
37. Edwin Bryant, in Food for the Soul: Vegetarianism and Yoga Traditions (Editor: Steven Rosen),
Praeger, ISBN 978-0313397035, pp. 33–48
38. Sangave 2006, p. 67.
39. Shah, Umakant Premanand, Mahavira Jaina teacher (http://www.britannica.com/biography/Ma
havira-Jaina-teacher), Encyclopædia Britannica
40. Vijay K. Jain 2012, p. 61.
41. Vijay K. Jain 2012, p. 66.
42. S.A. Jain 1992, p. 197.
43. Vijay K. Jain 2012, p. 33.
44. Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 23 Full Shabad (http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?
Action=Page&Param=23&english=t&id=938#l938)
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Jain, Prof. S.A. (1992) [First edition 1960], Reality (English Translation of Srimat
Pujyapadacharya's Sarvarthasiddhi) (https://archive.org/details/Reality_JMT) (Second ed.),
Jwalamalini Trust, " This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public
domain."
Sangave, Vilas Adinath (2006) [1990], Aspects of Jaina religion (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=8UhvGRoyAqMC) (5 ed.), Bharatiya Jnanpith, ISBN 8126312734
Jain, Vijay K. (2012), Acharya Amritchandra's Purushartha Siddhyupaya: Realization of the
Pure Self, With Hindi and English Translation (https://books.google.com/books?id=4iyUu4Fc2-
YC), Vikalp Printers, ISBN 978-8190363945, " This article incorporates text from this source,
which is in the public domain."

External links
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yogasutr.htm

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