Passage 8

Vow of Truth should never be broken

Instances abound in the history of Bharath of sages and rulers who sacrificed their lives in order to fulfill their plighted word. Emperor Harischandra stuck to Truth in spite of travail and temptation. He refused to deny the word he had spoken, though he had to sell himself and his queen and son as bondslaves and reduce himself to the position of a watchman in a burial ground. Lakshmana too stuck to his promise to accompany Rama during the years of his exile though he had to leave his mother and wife and palace behind. Emperor Bali carried out his promise to Vamana though the Guru whom he revered predicted that he would be destroyed, if he stuck to Truth and gifted three foot-lengths of land to Vamana. So he won God's Grace, as Harischandra won it and both gathered immoral renown.