05-17-2007, 09:27 AM
I don't think it is correct to do an equal-equal between Hindu teaching and Hudaibiya. it's not as simple as that.
In fact one of the primal references to telling a lie for a good purpose is in the Mahabharata - with reference to Ashwathama's death. Yudisthira's chariot - that does not touch the ground on account of his eternal truthfulness (I think) gets back to ground level when he utters the white lie about Ashwathama's death - when in fact an elephant by that name was killed.
The important point here is that lying is wrong - and there will always be some karmic consequence that will follow from that. Telling lies is not free. So in actual fact I do not believe there is any Hindu "sanction" for lying.
However, as always in Hinduism, there is realization that people do lie, and sometimes may be forced to lie (in the manner that Yudisthira was forced to lie). Under the circumstances there is usually a means explaining that or atoning for that lie by some means. It could be an act of worship, or penance - or a simple "rationalization" that when you were forced to lie to someone that lie was forced out of you perhaps because you were destined to lie to that person at that time due to some event in earlier lives involving the two of you. Either you are repaying an old debt, or you are building up a debt that you will repay in a later life.
But no. The lie is not free as in Hudaibiya.
In fact one of the primal references to telling a lie for a good purpose is in the Mahabharata - with reference to Ashwathama's death. Yudisthira's chariot - that does not touch the ground on account of his eternal truthfulness (I think) gets back to ground level when he utters the white lie about Ashwathama's death - when in fact an elephant by that name was killed.
The important point here is that lying is wrong - and there will always be some karmic consequence that will follow from that. Telling lies is not free. So in actual fact I do not believe there is any Hindu "sanction" for lying.
However, as always in Hinduism, there is realization that people do lie, and sometimes may be forced to lie (in the manner that Yudisthira was forced to lie). Under the circumstances there is usually a means explaining that or atoning for that lie by some means. It could be an act of worship, or penance - or a simple "rationalization" that when you were forced to lie to someone that lie was forced out of you perhaps because you were destined to lie to that person at that time due to some event in earlier lives involving the two of you. Either you are repaying an old debt, or you are building up a debt that you will repay in a later life.
But no. The lie is not free as in Hudaibiya.