Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 3.1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
सत्यम् एव जयते न अनृतं सत्येन पन्था विततः देवयानः ।
येन आक्रमन्ति ऋषयः हि आप्तकामाः यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
satyam eva jayate na anṛtaṃ satyena panthā vitataḥ devayānaḥ |
yena ākramanti ṛṣayaḥ hi āptakāmāḥ yatra tat satyasya paramaṃ nidhānam ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्यम् एवsatyam evatruth alone (satyam eva); truth only; verily the true
जयतेjayateconquers (from √ji); gains the victory; triumphs
नnanot; no
अनृतम्anṛtamfalsehood (an-ṛta); untruth; falsehood
सत्येनsatyenaby truth; by truthfulness
पन्थाःpanthāḥgoing; the road
विततःvitataḥis laid out (vi-√tan — 'to stretch out'); is paved; is spread
देवयानःdevayānaḥthe path of the gods (deva-yāna); the divine road; the way of the devas
येनyenaby which; along which
आक्रमन्तिākramantithey ascend (ā-√kram); they proceed; they climb
ऋषयःṛṣayaḥby the ṛṣi; the sages
हिhiindeed; indeed
आप्तकामाःāptakāmāḥwhose desires are fulfilled (āpta-kāma); who have obtained what they desired; the fulfilled
यत्रyatrawhere; to where
तत्tatthat; it
सत्यस्यsatyasyaof the Truth; of the truth
परमम्paramamthe highest; the transcendent
निधानम्nidhānamthe treasure-house (nidhāna); the repository; the treasury
Translation
Truth conquers, not falsehood; by truth is laid out the path of the gods, along which the seers, whose desires are fulfilled, ascend to where the supreme treasure-house of Truth is.
Version
6cc4d369d8bc · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
satyam eva jayate nānṛtam — "truth alone conquers, not falsehood": a verse that became the motto of India (satyam eva jayate is inscribed on its state emblem) — but its native context is deeper than the political: it is a law of the constitution of being. The world has been put forth from the True (satyaṁ jñānam — the nature of Brahman); therefore falsehood in it is always a temporary structure on another's land: it may win battles — the war is won only by truth, for behind truth stands the whole mass of Being.
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ — "by truth is the path of the gods laid out": devayāna is that bright upward road (the northern path of the Praśna, the door of the sun of Muṇḍaka 1.2.11), and it is paved not with rituals but with truth: yena ākramanty ṛṣayo hy āpta-kāmāḥ — "along which the seers ascend, whose desires are fulfilled" (āpta-kāma — not those who have suppressed desire but those who have fulfilled it: having found the All, what more should they want?).
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam — "to where the supreme treasure-house of Truth is": Truth has a home, a treasury, a centre — it is no abstraction but a road to the Living One: truthfulness here is not morality but the physics of ascent: every truthful word is a stone in your road upward, every lying one a gap in the decking. The Praśna (1.16) said the same from the negative side: "there is no [path] for those in whom there is crookedness, falsehood, guile".