THE REAL TRUTH

Long ago, a Saint was living in the Himalayas. He was busy performing a puja before Goddess Kali. When he was about halfway into it, a goat hurried by. And running behind the goat was a butcher. The goat soon picked up the pace and was out of sight.

  The Saint saw with an intention on what the butcher was going to do next. He examined around, but there weren’t any footprints left behind by the goat. 

  Not intending to waste more time, the butcher looked at the Saint sitting in the temple and said, “Sadhu baba, you are a great guru. And you are a Brahman who will never lie. So, can you please tell me where my goat went?” 

  “I will surely tell you, young man,” the Saint answered. “But by seeing you, I feel that you are about to slaughter the goat.” 

  “Yes baba,” the man replied. “I have bought it in the market, so I have the full right to kill and eat the goat.”

Dear goddess, prayed the Saint, I am in a dilemma. If I tell the truth, I will be blamed for its death, but I will be blamed for being dishonest if I lie. What kind of perplexity is this, dear goddess!  

  After thinking the situation through, the Saint gave the butcher the wrong direction. 

Now a question to the reader. Did the Saint do anything wrong by lying to the butcher? 

  If your answer is yes, why is it so? Because the Saint lied? Well then, if the Saint told the truth, the butcher would have certainly killed the goat. Would that be right? 

  This is life. If at some point, we feel that our lie could help someone, or it leads to the well-being of someone, then it is not wrong. 

  If you feel that you want to choose the path of half-truth which doesn’t lead to someone’s suffering, then, at that point, it is right. Because its result might be priceless. 

Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of my imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. || Contents of this story should not be reproduced in any manner without permission.