In plain words
In this world of Prakṛti people believe that Satya is to tell what was seen as it was seen, what was heard as it was heard, what was said as it was said, what was done as it was done. But this runs into some danger. This very thing the Teacher of the Gītā told in many ways in the Bhagavad Gītā as well. Anudvegakaraṃ vākyaṃ satyaṃ priya hitaṃ caiva. Though a thing is true, it should be pleasing and beneficial; insisting that it is true, true, we must not say what hurts others, what gives displeasure. This itself is satyaṃ brūyāt priyaṃ brūyāt na brūyāt satyam apriyam. Here is a small example. Someone is unable to walk well; polio or some such thing has come to his leg a little, and it is weak. He cannot walk properly. This is true. If, saying it is true that he has no leg, true that he cannot walk, we call him ‘O lame one’, how it hurts them! So at this time, though it is true, we call him by his name. We call him, ‘Oh brother come on.’ We may call him in this way; but saying it is true, ‘O lame one! O blind one!’ If we say this, it hurts them very much. Though this is true, we must not use it in this way. Nor must we describe them with Asatya and lift them up, thinking it is pleasing to them. When there is some uncertainty between the two, Satya and Asatya, it is good for you to stay silent for a while. So if you ask how this Satya is to be taught to the children: ‘My dear, Satya is the form of God. In any circumstances, without hurting others, even in telling things as they are, you must think a little before and after and use it,’ you must tell them. Satya causes some hardship at the start. But gradually it becomes natural to us. Satya: if we truly inquire into Satya, it is beyond the three times. What we say now, we think of as Satya. No, no; we may say this is true. Now, when I saw him, he had put on a cap and was wearing a sweater. When I saw him, he had put on a cap and put on a sweater. But tomorrow he may take off the cap; finding it is not cold, he may take off the sweater. No, no: if I say, ‘I saw the man wearing a cap and a sweater,’ that is not Satya; that is the truth. Whatever dress he is in when you see him, for the moment, that is called the truth. Satya is not that. What keeps one form in past, future and present times is Satya. We experience Satya in the world in two kinds. The Satya experienced with the body-minded outlook is worldly Satya. The Satya experienced with the Ātma-minded outlook is the form of God.