Satyameva Jayate

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For other uses, see Satyamev Jayate (disambiguation).

National Emblem of India

"Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit: सत्यमेव जयते satyam-eva jayate; lit. "Truth alone triumphs.") is a mantra from the ancient Indian scriptureMundaka Upanishad.^[1] Upon independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India.^[2] It is inscribed in script at the base of the national emblem. The emblem and the words "Satyameva Jayate" are inscribed on one side of all Indian currency. The emblem is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka which was erected around 250 BCE at Sarnath, near Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is inscribed on all currency notes and national documents.

Origin[edit]

The origin of the motto is well-known mantra 3.1.6 from the Mundaka Upanishad. The mantra is as follows:

In Devanāgarī script

सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं
सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः ।
येनाक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा
यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥६॥

Transliteration

satyameva jayate nānṛtaṁ
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ
yenākramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam^[3]

In English

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.^[4]

Popular connotations also include:

• 'Truth stands Invincible'
• 'Truth alone triumphs*'
• 'Truth alone conquers, not falsehood'
• 'The true prevails, not the untrue' ^[5]
• 'Truth alone conquers, not untruth' ^[6]
• 'Truth Alone Triumphs, not (na) that against Sacred law (Rta)
• Vaimaye Vellum (Tamil : வாய்மையே வெல்லும்)
• Pravda vítězí ("Truth prevails", a motto of the Hussite movement and the official motto of Czechoslovak/Czech presidents)

The slogan was popularized and brought into the national lexicon by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1918 when serving his second of four terms as President of the Indian National Congress.^[7]