Satya & Ahimsa

[Guest guest]

Mahatma

Gandhi based his life on two fundamental principles, satya

and ahimsa_

unconditional adherence to the truth, and unreserved practice of

nonviolence in thought, speech, and deed.

One

day a journalist remarked to Gandhi that in some cases telling the

truth could actually cause harm to others. Gandhi asked for an

example. The journalist then related a carefully crafted spiritual

dilemma for the Mahatma to solve:

_A

monk was sitting peacefully at a crossroad.  A noise attracted

his attention and, as he looked up, a wounded deer galloped past and

took one of the roads leading away from the intersection.  A few

minutes after the deer had disappeared a hunter came to where the

monk was still sitting. He cast about him but couldn_t determine

which way the beast had fled, so he asked the monk if he could point

him in the right direction._

Gandhi

smiled for he knew the dilemma the monk was facing.

 

The

journalist continued, _If the monk answered _yes_, he was

compromising his vow of ahimsa,

because he would become the material cause of the deer_s death. But

if he said _no_, he was compromising satya

by resorting to lying._

 

Looking

the Mahatma straight in the eye, the journalist asked the crucial

question. _Gandhiji, what should the monk answer?_

_Let

me answer your clever scenario by a story. It comes from one of the

scriptures composed by Sage Vyasa, the Devi

Bhagavata._

Mahatma

Gandhi fixed his gaze in a distant horizon and started.

 

 

_Sage

Satyavrata had taken the vow of always saying the truth_hence his

name (_Vow of Truth_). One day he saw, running towards him, a pig

that had been struck by an arrow.  It stopped, looked about it

and then hid in the bushes nearby. Soon a fierce-looking hunter came

and asked Satyavrata whether he had seen a pig wounded by an arrow.

Satyavrata gave an answer which saved the pig, dharma,

and possibly his own life._

What

was it?

Mahatma

Gandhi explained, _Very calmly, Sage Satyavrata said, _My eyes have

seen but they cannot speak. My mouth can speak but it cannot see.

Please leave me alone, O hunter, and go your way._

 

The

hunter was so impressed by the courage of this answer that he begged

apology and left._

Turning

to the journalist, Mahatma Gandhi concluded, _Most importantly, know

that if anybody asks a question, one is never obliged to give an

answer.