Day 79 

All your actions will become fruitful, if you are established in truth. The actions of many people don't bring about results because there is no truth-consciousness in them. The fruit of an action will follow immediately when there is no truth consciousness. There is success in actions and truth is not just the words. 

It is the quality of the consciousness, of straight forwardness. Even if you are telling a lie and you are bold enough to say that you are telling a lie then you are speaking truth. When you tell a lie, your consciousness is not solid. It is not straight forward. There is no strength in it. 

Success comes easily to a person who's committed to truth, who is committed to "what is" - the presence of being. It is not that he will not encounter failures. He may encounter failure, but he will win. Satyameva jayate, is a slogan, like, “We trust in God” which is written on the American currency notes. In India, the slogan is "The truth alone triumphs". 

Truth will definitely win, though intermittently, it may appear not to be winning. There is a story. At one time, India was a collection of many small kingdoms. They were ruled by an Emperor. Akbar, Mughal emperor had a wise minister called Birbal. He was very humorous. The Emperor would pass odd laws and rules. Once he ordered that anybody found telling a lie would be hanged. 

At that time the emperors and kings could make their own laws, any laws that they fancied. There was no parliament or congressmen to debate and pass laws. He heard a talk on truth and had been influenced. His new law created a big commotion. The lawyers felt that it would ruin their business and their profession would be finished. They had a meeting to decide the course of action.

Similarly, all the merchant gathered for a meeting to discuss the new law. They wondered how they would be able to sell their products. It was disastrous. Despite being aware that their products were not the best, they would claim them to be so. They would tell many lied to their potential customers and employ various gimmicks of business. With the new law, they would be ruined. They felt that it was outrageous. 

That they would not be able to carry on with the new law in place. There were similar meetings held by the astrologers, priests, doctors, etc. They approached Birbal, a wise minister in the King's court. They requested him to do something. He promised that he would. The next day Birbal went to King's bedroom. The guards outside stopped him. 

He told him that he was going to get hanged. It was a lie because the King's bedroom was not a place where he would be hanged. So the guards took him to the King. If he was hanged, then he didn't speak a lie, whatever he said was truth. Then the King would have punished an innocent man. And that would be a big crime that the King would commit. 

If the king did not hang him, then the law would have become obsolete. To settle this, the King called all the ministers and pundits and there was a big debate. If Birbal was hanged, a law would be violated and if he was not hanged, then, too, a law would be violated. The King was in a fix and everybody was in a greater fix. 

Finally, they asked Birbal to suggest what was to be done. Birbal said that truth is not what is spoken. Anything that is spoken becomes a lie. The moment you say something, you are distorting "what is" and "what is" is truth.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS