A lie, a ploy

Exploring the power of truth from a Buddhist perspective, writer Mervyn Samarakoon highlights the importance of speaking truthfully and the negative consequences of lying  

May a rock be carried by the wind, may the sun and moon descend upon the earth, may all the world’s rivers flow upstream Great King, but l will not speak an untruth exclaimed -Maha Suthasoma the Bodhisathva in the face of imminent death. 
This indeed is the avowed rule of all Great Beings who could be prone to any other sin known to man, save this.  
 The fourth of the five Buddhist precepts though seemingly of lesser significance than others, rests on a timeless dictum of the world. lt was emphasized by Lord Buddha in His fathomless wisdom there isn’t a wrong one cannot commit who breaches this single law.   
Four conditions are requisite for the wrong to take effect - being a falsehood, intention to deceive, conveying the falsehood to another, comprehension by the party it is conveyed to. 
According to the Vibhanga, above are analysed under two divisions.  
Falsehood is twofold as major and minor, the repercussions that flow there from differing accordingly. A minor falsehood is one spoken in fun, as a lullaby, as a means of avoiding giving something to another or in concealing a wrong done.  
Major falsehoods are those that are disbelieved by the world at large (possibly encompassing falsehoods of a political nature as well), falsehoods where its originator begets disrespect, ridicule, slander and ignominy, and statements that tend to make him a victim of unfounded allegations. 
Degree of piety of the person deceived as well, determines the gravity of the wrong. Making a promise with no intention of fulfilling it for whatsoever reason, comes within its ambit irrespective of the undertaking being honoured subsequently.  
Giving false evidence in order to benefit himself or a third party is within the definition of major falsehood according to Musawada Sutta. One who prompts another to adduce such evidence partakes of identical consequences according to the said Sutta. It could be said that false evidence that results in distress or harm to a third party is included in the definition.  
Repercussions of making false statements or representations are manifold. He may be born poor, be subject to grave illness and diseases of the mouth, born with weird appearance, a gross voice, or a stammer. He may be deaf and dumb, or be born an idiot. 
Hell, with an unimaginably long lifespan is a common place of residence of his. Scripture notes the incredible instance of mighty King Chethiya possessed of the supramundane power of astral travel descending to hell on account of this particular sin.   
The converse of falsehood is an omnipotent force on earth. ‘Truth’ is the hallmark of all aspiring Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas. 
The mysterious phenomenon defined ‘Performance of Truth ‘ has adorned the Buddhist narrative through its length and breadth. Mellodius Jayamangala Gatha as well as many other profound spiritual aphorisms are invoked as blessings of benevolence founded upon Buddha’s boundless wisdom and compassion. 
An ultimate indvidual display of the mysterious power was witnessed by the world when Angulimala Thera stunningly invoked it on the pathetic woman in labour, preserved for all posterity in the pirith chanting named after the fabled monk.   
Visuddhi Magga records a remarkable episode in Lanka where Mahamitta Thera’s mother lay seriously ill with a vicious boil on her body. 
When her daughter also a bhikkuni went over to her brother monk at the mother’s request to seek a cure, the venerable thera declared “l know not the way of prescribing medications, but from the day l entered the Great Order l have not viewed an object animate or otherwise in violation of my senses. By the power of this truth may my mother be well.” 
He instructed the bhikkhuni to stroke the mother’s body while repeating the words. She did as told and the boil disappeared like a bubble of foam.  
Again, when a native physician required rabbit meat to prepare a concoction for a woman ailing from a serious illness, the woman’s son instructed his younger sibling to lay a snare in a bush nearby. 
The following morning, seeing a rabbit caught in it the youngster couldn’t help but declare “As long as l can remember l have not deprived a living being of its life. If that is true, may my mother recover from her illness” and set the frightened animal free. 
No sooner he went home than miraculous results were to be observed by all.  
Ironically, the manifest power of truth is quite independent of the righteousness or otherwise of the utterance made. 
Kanhadeepa Jathaka  stands in vivid testimony of this mystery of the world. When a young boy lay unconscious due to snakebite while playing out in the open, the parents rushed him to an ascetic brahmin nearby after whom the above Jathaka is named. 
The brahmin placed his hand on the boy’s head and pronounced “From the day l took the oath of asceticism fifty five years ago, only seven days did l abide by its rules, which l disclosed to none upto now. By the power of this truth may this boy be well”.  
The brahmin then demanded the husband and wife follow suit. The boy’s father declared, “lf ever l made a donation to a man seeking assistance l always did it with a reluctant heart, which too l have not disclosed to another until today”.   
When the mother’s turn arrived she indicated in no uncertain terms her reluctance to say anything on the matter. However, after being reminded it is a matter of life and death for her son, she divulged a secret she had kept to herself all along - the disgust she felt towards her husband from the day she met him.   
She added there was no difference between that and the disgust she had towards the serpent that bit her son.   
No sooner it was said than the child Yagngadaththa had come back to life as if nothing had been the matter. The Brahmin in that birth was Gautama Buddha.  
A near incredulous instance of the mystery has gone on record during the time of King Asoka the Great where a woman of easy virtue made a flowing river come to a halt on a swear that she never discriminated amongst those who came to her seeking her services.  
Another marvel of nature is the phenomenon where the obnoxious wrong could change complexion to become a superlative ‘ploy’, a transformation into an ultra-benevolent act of kindness that could even alter a man’s destiny for all time.   
Termed ‘Upaya’ or at times ‘Samyaprayoga’ in the native tongue, the following episode from Dhammapada holds an outstanding example.   
First Chief Disciple Sariputta Thera happened to observe with his mystifying mental power the dreaded hazel eyed, bronze bearded Thambadatika, former executioner of the Magada Kingdom as one with hidden merit akin to a ‘bright lamp burning within an enclosure’ capable of benefitting from the great teaching.   
At lunch time the venerable Thera appeared at the executioner’s door with begging bowl in hand, whereupon the man invited the Thera in, served him with food and respectfully stood behind fanning him.  
At the end of the meal the sermon was begun for bestowing of merit, but the wise monk observed his benefactor wasn’t paying attention as he should.   
He questioned, the man who confessed that he was of disturbed mind as he had spent his entire life severing the heads of robbers.   
The text indicates he was forced to quit his vocation when he could no longer decapitate the condemned with a single strike and onlookers at the scene began passing out in numbers. The noble monk asked the man “Did you do it on your own or at another’s bidding?” When he replied the King made him do it, the monk said “Good man, was a sin committed”.  
Relieved, he instantly grasped the ‘sign of guiltlessnes’ and implored the erudite monk to continue with his preaching, at the end of which he attained the state of Adaptative Knowledge (Anuloma Gnana), a step below that of Sowanhood.   
He then followed the bhikkhu some distance on his way back and turned towards home when a she-devil in the form of a cow gored him to death from behind.   
Many aeons before in a particular birth, the cow had been a courtesan who was the victim of robbery, abuse and murder in a public park at the hands of the executioner and three other of his samsaric friends. Having overheard their conspiracy to murder her she cursed them all that she would turn a devil and stalk them a hundred times to their doom.   
True to her word, all four men having had spent inconceivably long spells in livid hell, did return to earth a hundred times each to face the bashing as vowed by her.   
The former executioner upon being gored for the final time appeared instantly in the heavenly abode Thusitha as if woken from sleep. The three other accomplices of his who were reborn as the sea faring merchant Bahiya, as Pukkusathi the King of Taxila and as Suppabuddakutti the horrible leper, faced the same fate at her hands as did the executioner. The first Chief Disciple had seen it all when he picked up his bowl that day.  

‘It is thus seen Wasetta, he who lives by his speech is a vendor, not a brahmin’  
‘Grandiose words of power and glory destroy the fool as do excessive cries the quail’   
‘Refined in speech, corrupt in mind, a black snake hiding in a den. Struts with the flag of dhamma held high. Regarded in great esteem in the townships, unrecognized by the dolt’   
‘Before he speaks the sage always asks himself, is this true, is this kind, is it helpful’  

 Extracts from Suttas and Commentaries