Satyameva Jayate

National Emblem of India

"Satyameva Jayate" (satyam eva jayate सत्यमेव जयते) (Sanskrit: "Truth Alone Triumphs") is the national motto of India. It is inscribed in Devanagari script at the base of the national emblem, which is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath, near Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of the motto is a well-known mantra 3.1.6 from the Mundaka Upanishad. Full mantra as follows.

satyameva jayate naanritam
satyena pantha vitato devayanah
yenaa kramantyarishayo hyaaptakaamaa
yatra tat satyasya paramam nidhaanam

Meaning:

Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood.
Through truth the divine path is spread out by which
the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled,
reach to where is that supreme treasure of Truth.

In an extensive article, "Satyam Eva Jayate Nānṛtam", M. A. Mehendale of Deccan College, Pune (Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 81, No. 4, (Sep. - Dec., 1961), pp. 405- 408), however, disputes this interpretation based on extensive analysis of the Upanishads and the use of Sanskrit. Mehendale notes:

In the above interpretation satyam and anrtam are taken to be the subjects, but this does not seem to be correct. Both satyam and anrtam have to be regarded as the objects, and a rsi is to be understood as the subject. Taken this way, the sentence would mean "A sage obtains only the Real (i. e., the Brahman), not the unreal. ...This interpretation will be found to be in harmony with the spirit of the Upanisads in general and that of the Mundaka in particular."

However, the popular connotations include: (1) 'Truth alone triumphs', or (2) 'Truth alone conquers, not falsehood', or (3) 'The true prevails, not the untrue' (Max Muller (SBE 15), or (4) 'Truth alone conquers, not untruth' (Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanisads) - citations from Mehendale.

The motto of the Czech Republic and its predecessor Czechoslovakia, "Pravda vítězí" ("Truth Prevails") has a similar meaning.