(सत्यस्य ब्रह्मणः स्तुतिब्राह्मणम् ) आप एवेदमग्र आसुः ।ता आपः सत्यमसृजन्त ।सत्यं ब्रह्म ।ब्रह्म प्रजापतिम् ।प्रजापतिर्देवान् ।ते देवाः सत्यमेवोपासते ।तदेतत्त्र्यक्षरं सतियमिति स इत्येकमक्षरम् ।तीत्येकमक्षरम् ।यमित्येकमक्षरम् ।प्रथमोत्तमे अक्षरे सत्यं मध्यतोऽनृतम् ।तदेतदनृतमुभयतः सत्येन परिगृहीतम् ।सत्यभूयमेव भवति ।नैवंविद्वांसमनृतं हिनस्ति ॥बृह. ५,५.१ ॥
In plain words
In the beginning this was the waters alone. Those waters brought forth the real, and the real is Brahman; Brahman brought forth Prajāpati, and Prajāpati the gods. Those gods worship the real alone. The word satyam has three syllables: sa is one syllable, ti is one syllable, yam is one syllable. The first and last syllables are the real, and in the middle is the unreal. So this unreal is enclosed on both sides by the real, and becomes wholly real. The unreal does not harm one who knows this.
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 10.33· avatāraṇikā
तस्यैव हृदयाख्यस्य ब्रह्मणः सत्यमित्युपासनं विधित्स- न्नाह—
In plain words
Having shown that Brahman as the heart, he now wants to teach us to hold that same Brahman in mind under a new name — Truth. So he says—
Close to the Sanskrit
Wishing now to prescribe the meditation called 'Truth' upon that very Brahman known as the heart, he says—
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 10.37· bhāṣya
तयोः तकारसामान्यात् । तदेतत् अनृतं तकाराक्षरं मृत्यु- रूपम् उभयतः सत्येन सकारयकारलक्षणेन परिगृहीतं व्या- प्तम् अन्तर्भावितं सत्यरूपाभ्याम्, अतः अकिञ्चित्करं तत्, सत्यभूयमेव सत्यबाहुल्यमेव भवति ; एवं सत्यबाहुल्यं सर्व- स्य मृत्योरनृतस्य अकिञ्चित्करत्वं च यो विद्वान्, तमेवं वि- द्वांसम् अनृतं कदाचित् प्रमादोक्तं न हिनस्ति ॥
In plain words
The two words share that single letter 't' — that is the whole clue. The syllable of untruth, 't', carries death in it, but truth closes in on it from both sides, the letters 's' and 'y', soaking it through, taking it up into itself. It is left with no power to do anything. What remains is truth — overwhelmingly truth. Know this: that truth outweighs everything, and that this death-bound sliver of untruth has no force of its own — and if you slip and speak a falsehood by accident, it will never be able to touch you.
Close to the Sanskrit
[This is] because of the two words sharing the letter 't'. This untruth, the syllable 't', has the nature of death; it is seized on both sides by truth, marked by the letters 's' and 'y', pervaded, absorbed within the two forms of truth. Therefore it is powerless. It becomes truth-predominant, truth-abundant indeed. Thus, one who knows this abundance of truth in everything, and the powerlessness of mortal untruth — such a knower is never harmed by an untruth spoken by accident at some time.