"The earth is supported by the power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed all things rest upon truth"
About this Quote
Truth is presented as a sovereign force on which the world itself depends. The images of sun and wind give a cosmic scale to a moral claim: reality holds together because truth is honored. In the Indian intellectual tradition, satya (truth) is bound to rta (cosmic order), the pattern that makes nature reliable and life intelligible. To say the sun shines by truth is to say that order, predictability, and meaning arise when words match facts, promises match actions, and minds align with what is.
Chanakya, famed for hardheaded statecraft, knew that power built on illusion collapses. His Arthashastra permits cunning in crisis, yet it roots stable rule in justice, trust, and law. Markets function because contracts are kept; courts work because testimony aims at truth; science advances because evidence is honored; families and communities endure because people can rely on one another. When truth decays, confidence erodes, coordination fails, and the collective world wobbles. The earth being supported by truth is less a physics claim than a warning about the foundations of civilization.
There is also a personal dimension. A life organized around self-deception multiplies suffering, while commitment to truth clarifies choices and strengthens character. Truth acts like the sun, illuminating; it acts like the wind, moving things forward. This understanding later echoes in Gandhi’s satyagraha, where truth is not only factual accuracy but fidelity to reality and conscience.
The line captures both a metaphysical intuition and a practical rule. Order, freedom, and prosperity are downstream of truthfulness. Preserve it, and the world coheres. Abandon it, and even the most brilliant strategies turn brittle. Chanakya, the pragmatist, affirms that truth is not a luxury of idealists but the load-bearing pillar of nature, society, and the self.
Chanakya, famed for hardheaded statecraft, knew that power built on illusion collapses. His Arthashastra permits cunning in crisis, yet it roots stable rule in justice, trust, and law. Markets function because contracts are kept; courts work because testimony aims at truth; science advances because evidence is honored; families and communities endure because people can rely on one another. When truth decays, confidence erodes, coordination fails, and the collective world wobbles. The earth being supported by truth is less a physics claim than a warning about the foundations of civilization.
There is also a personal dimension. A life organized around self-deception multiplies suffering, while commitment to truth clarifies choices and strengthens character. Truth acts like the sun, illuminating; it acts like the wind, moving things forward. This understanding later echoes in Gandhi’s satyagraha, where truth is not only factual accuracy but fidelity to reality and conscience.
The line captures both a metaphysical intuition and a practical rule. Order, freedom, and prosperity are downstream of truthfulness. Preserve it, and the world coheres. Abandon it, and even the most brilliant strategies turn brittle. Chanakya, the pragmatist, affirms that truth is not a luxury of idealists but the load-bearing pillar of nature, society, and the self.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
|---|
More Quotes by Chanakya
Add to List
