Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Enquire thoroughly how much sanctity there is in the word sathya (truth). Sath + e + ya = sathya. Sath means life. E means annam (food). Ya means Surya (the sun). Food is derived from the sun. As long as one has life, one needs food. Food is the creation of the sun. Because of the sunrays, there is greenery in the world and people can grow crops. The sun is the main cause of all that we grow. People use the food created by the sun to sustain life. If we analyse the word ‘sathya’, it is the combination of three letters: sa, tha, ya. When we reverse the order of the letters, we get ya, tha, sa. Here, ya signifies yamas, or restraints: nonviolence (ahimsa), truth (sathya), non-stealing (asteya), celibacy (brahmacharya), renunciation (aparigraha) which form the basis of the inner discipline of humanity. Tha means thapas (penance) and sa means sathya swarupa (embodiment of truth), which is God. So, the word sathya connotes that a person can have the vision of God by inner discipline and penance.