Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The origins of the title

"Satyameva Jayate" (satyam-eva jayate सत्यमेव जयते) (Sanskrit: "Truth Alone Triumphs") is the national motto of India[1]. It is inscribed in Devanagari script at the base of the national emblem, which is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath, near Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of the motto is a well-known mantra 3.1.6 from the Mundaka Upanishad [1]. Full mantra as follows.

satyameva jayate nānṛtaṁ
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |
yenā kramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam ||[2]

In devanāgarī :

सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम् सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः । येनाऽऽक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परं निधानं ॥

Meaning:

Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood.
Through truth the divine path is spread out by which
the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled,
reach where that supreme treasure of Truth resides.[3]