The Truth About the Truth Act (Satyakriya)

A talk with Stanley Insler, Salisbury Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at Yale University

In both Hindu and Buddhist narratives, there are occasions in which someone speaks a truth and by the power of that truth causes something miraculous or wonderful to occur.  So, for example, in the Rāmāyaṇa, Rāma’s wife Sītā is able to enter a blazing fire and exit from it unharmed by means of the truth.  Or again, in a Buddhist story, King Sivi restores his own eyes by uttering a truth.  In this presentation, Professor Insler will explore how the storytellers of ancient India understood such Truth Acts to operate and why the truth had such power.