By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Posted: December 02, 2019

Akbar, the emperor of ancient India, once passed a law that said anyone who told a lie would go to the gallows and be hanged. 

This would be the punishment. So, when this law was passed, the entire country became so upset. First, the businessmen got together. They said, “We should see that this draconian law is repealed.”

Why? Every businessman, though his product isn’t the best, claims it’s the best product! So they would all be lying and go to the gallows. 

Then, there were doctors. Doctors usually assure the patients, “Don’t worry, you’ll be alright. You take this medicine. You’ll be fine tomorrow.” Suppose tomorrow, that person isn’t fine? The doctors would be sent to the gallows. 

And then came the astrologers. Astrologers give some predictions. If they don’t happen, then they would be hanged. 

So businessmen, doctors, astrologers, almost every profession, people got into trouble. They finally called a representative to say “You do something to scrap this law.” So their representative went to the royal court, and when the king was in the queen’s room, he tried to barge in to meet the king. 

Naturally, the guards stopped him and asked, “Where are you going?”

He said, “I’m going to get hanged. I’m going to the gallows.”

So, the guards went to report this to the king. “When we stopped him, this is what he said.”

And the king said “Oh, call him.” He went in. Now, he had told a lie. Nobody goes to the palace to get hanged. So, now what to do? If, because he told a lie he is hung, then what he said was true. Then it means you’ve punished an innocent person. If you don’t hang him, then what happens? Then the law would be violated. 

So, then the king convened his own ministers the next day, and said “What do we do now? What do we do with this guy? Should we hang him? If we hang him, it’s a big mistake because that’s what he said would happen. If we don’t hang him, the law becomes obsolete.”

Then the people’s representative said, “See, what you say and what you do isn’t what truth is. Truth is what exists. What is, is true. That which isn’t affected by past, present, future, that is true.”

Now, is it possible to live a life without telling a lie to your conscience? Yes. You don’t lie to your conscience, so leave it up to your consciousness. But what words you use, when you use them, how you use them? To whom do you say things? That’s different.

A doctor can’t tell a patient, you’ll die tomorrow. He may die today. And if someone is dull, you can’t say “You’re the dullest person I’ve seen.” No! You should encourage them. Tell them “You can do it. You’re not dull.” That doesn’t mean it’s a lie. That’s why the ancient people in India had a beautiful couplet. 

We used to study this in all the schools. I don’t know whether it still exists in school. It goes, “Tell the truth. Speak pleasantly. Don’t speak truth which isn’t pleasant, and don’t speak pleasant lies.” This is dharma. 

What is it? Speak truth. Speak pleasantly. Don’t speak unpleasant truth or pleasant lies. Got it? This is an ancient dharma.

If someone is blind, you don’t have to comment about his blindness. You shouldn’t say that. Why do you have to insult somebody? Never speak harsh truth which is never going to benefit anybody and doesn’t do any good to anyone. 

You can say, “I’m righteous. I’m speaking the truth.” But, your speaking the truth isn’t helping. It isn’t creating harmony. If it’s hurting everybody, why do you want to do that? 

At the same time, don’t speak pleasant lies. Just to butter someone up, don’t tell lies. It’s a very fine border, a fine line. You have to tread that fine line.