83. Falsehood Thrives on Truth
T he world as we perceive it consists of both truth and falsehood. A careful examination reveals that falsehood is often nothing more than a misinterpretation of truth, arising from our circumstances or from the limitations of our senses and mind. For example, our image in a mirror is ‘ asat ’ or unreal, for it has no existence of its own and depends entirely on our presence before the mirror. Similarly, in the well-known rope and snake analogy, the rope is the truth, and the snake is the falsehood that cannot exist without the rope. But, till this realisation dawns, all our thoughts and actions would be based on falsehood, oftentimes, continuing for generations across society. Similarly, if we consider any technology as the metaphorical truth, its malefic use is falsehood. A loudspeaker can be used to propagate good and also to instigate the gullible into violence. Similarly, today’s social media, the metaphorical truth, is falsehood when used malevolently. The insight...