In plain words
Satya Is the Life of the Word
The sweetness in a word is in nothing else. Because from ancient times people went on using the sweetness of words, the Satya of words and the sacredness of words, the word and the mouth had their due value in those days. Because man's words today have turned into mere worthless things, even the mouth of today has lost its value. If the mouth's value has fallen today, what is the reason? Because the Satya in man's word has fallen, the value of the mouth too falls. We must clearly recognise the close bond between the word and the mouth. The ancients would give up their life for their word. For their word they would dedicate their very life. As it is said, “Is there a sin greater than giving your word and going back on it?”, once they gave their word they went on guarding the Satya in that word until they died. Precisely because the ancients went on living a life of that kind, Bhārata kept winning lasting glory. From ancient times Bhārata has gone on offering a great many ideals. What is the reason? Their lives themselves were ideal lives. Their lives themselves were lives of Ānanda. But today, unfortunately, Bhārata has been able to gain independence, yet the people of Bhārata are unable to gain unity. Today what we call unity is nowhere to be seen in any human being. Because there is no unity, humanness has gone on losing its value. It is not a matter of a party, or of an individual, or of an association, or of a gathering. The honour of the country rests on its individuals. It is the duty of every person of Bhārata to protect the honour of the country without our making distinctions between individuals. He hopes only that life goes on, and that is enough for him; but how this life should go on, with what values it should go on, with what purity it should be lived: no one today gives thought to this matter. Today the word does not have the value the note has; in those days even the note did not have the value the word had. Today sacred words must spring forth from the heart. Only the Ānanda that comes from this heart is true Ānanda. The Ānanda that comes from outside is not real Ānanda.