Lies.. Lies.. Lies

We are all familiar with the tale of King Yudhisthira (also known as Dharma) from the epic tale of the Mahabharata - the monarch who never told a lie. While he is possibly a work of fiction, and most definitely been exaggerated by any stretch of imagination, his fictional existence urges us to ask ourselves, could he have been real? I’m not talking about some sort of archeological proof pointing to his existence here. Instead, I want to discuss a sociological argument about whether such a character could have existed at all in the first place, and managed a large kingdom without uttering a single lie in the process? 

Let me give you a little bit of a back story of why I got started on this wild goose chase.  Just recently, I found myself resorting to uttering a few lies (very harmless ones) to persuade my three-year-old to head off to school early in the morning. This incident left me asking myself about my ethical integrity as a parent. One thought spiraled into another, and I found myself questioning how Yudhisthira or Harichandra might have navigated this same situation.  Now, all lies are not the same, before you start reading ahead, for context there are different kinds of lies based on their impact on the speaker as well as the receiver. Here is a matrix that will help you identify them -

With all this information, a week of this line of thinking, and I’m finally here, penning it down.

I’m sure Yudhisthira did not have to rush their kids to school, but I’m somewhat certain that lies, at least harmless ones, were needed to be told from time to time to manage a large empire. Imagine this. Let’s say two tribes who have a dispute with one another come over to the king to seek justice. Does the king make it clear to everyone who is at fault (there usually is one that started it all) and therefore remove any possibility of having a short lived peace? One solution I could think of is this. Maybe he delegated the task of lying to his brothers who also helped manage the kingdom. Can you imagine how this could have played out? Imagine one of the ministers getting lied to by Arjun at the behest of Yudhisthira. The minister could quickly go to the king and get the facts verified. This line of thinking is surely the pathway to many comical ideas that could have gone around the kingdom. A man who is literally truthful (and known to be truthful by one and all) cannot be entrusted with State secrets. If that were the case, Yudhisthira was never really the seat of power in the kingdom. It must have been someone else. However, to build on top of this fiction and to test the assumption is not my goal here. This line of thinking made me imagine a hypothetical world - a world in which my students (you guys) never uttered a lie for a single day.

Let’s think about it together and perform this thought experiment. How would such a day pan out? Let’s try going over this from midnight to midnight.

At midnight, most of you are still awake. You cannot lie to yourself that you’ll finish that assignment the next day. Instead of lying to yourself in such ways, you might either decide to fall as well and wake up in the morning to complete your work, or, complete the work and only then go to sleep. Either Way, your individual productivity would sky rocket.

At around 8.00 AM, you would still probably run to the cafeteria and pick up some food. You’d have conversations with your friends by this time and not lie to each other about cleaning up in the morning. You will also probably tell yourself the truth that you are not eating healthy and you need to focus more on your health.

When the class starts, and the faculty asks you if you read the pre-reads, most of you would say ‘no’ honestly as opposed to “almost completed sir/ma’am”, “have not managed to analyze the exhibits ma’am, but everything else is done”, etc.  Those of you who sleep through class may actually get away without lying quite comfortably.

You would not lie about the bus coming late but instead admit you were out on a sutta break. You would not cook up weird reasons for why you need extensions for project submissions. The project submissions themselves would truly indicate the efforts that you had put in.

At around 12.30 PM, during lunch, you would not exaggerate about your weekend plans to your friends. Instead, had you planned to stay in bed and binge-watch a series, you'd proudly say so without feeling the need to inflate your activities. Conversations around the table would be genuine, leading to deeper connections and understanding among peers.

At 2 PM, in group projects or study groups, you'd openly admit if you didn't understand something, instead of nodding along. This would lead to better collaboration, where group members could help each other more efficiently. In case none of you could come up with an answer, you’d probably bother some faculty member and genuinely ask them for assistance.

By 4 PM, when you’re out on the sports field or participating in extracurriculars, you'd be honest about your capabilities. No more saying, "I can definitely do that!" when you can't, or "I’m not feeling well today" when you just don't want to participate. Your teammates would have clearer ideas about where everyone stands, leading to better strategies and teamwork.

At around 6 PM, as you engage in conversations and social interactions, you wouldn’t feel the need to sugarcoat things or engage in empty flattery. Compliments given would be genuine, making them more meaningful and impactful. On the other hand, criticisms would be constructive and straightforward, fostering growth and self-improvement.

By 8 PM, while having dinner and chatting with friends, discussions about personal issues or world events would be more open and sincere. There'd be no facade or pretending. You’d know where everyone truly stands on an issue, leading to more meaningful debates and discussions. You’d also probably agree that the food was not too great and pass on a comment to the mess vendor so that he can try and improve what he has on offer on the next day.

As the night draws to an end and you reflect on your day, you’d realize the mental burden that comes from maintaining lies or pretending is gone. There's a certain peace that comes from truthfulness, a simplicity that declutters the mind.

This brings us to the end of this particular thought experiment. Coming to think of it, not lying may not be that bad after all. Maybe we should try it from time to time and embrace the comfort that only truth can provide us. While it may not be possible for us to spend a single day without uttering a few lies, I’m curious to find out what Yudhisthira’s secret was. Given the choice, would we choose to lie? And there I go on a different rant once more!!

Hope this gave you some food for thought! Hope you have a great weekend! Happy learning and have fun!