"No One Likes the Truth"

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From Dialectic Spiritualism.

 

Sysmasundara dasa: Alexander accepted Plato's three greatest values in life-truth, beauty, and goodness-as values to be accepted by the majority.

Srila Prabhupada: Unfortunately, in the material world, no one likes the truth. At least in this age, the majority of people are not truthful. As soon as one becomes truthful, he becomes a br¢hmaëa. Where are the br¢hmaëas in this age? Kalau çüdra sambhava. In Kali-yuga, everyone is a çüdra. If Alexander thinks that everyone will accept truthfulness as a great value, he is mistaken.

Sysmasundara dasa: For Alexander, there is a practical criterion for truth, but he preferred the coherence principle by which the majority opinion determined truth by mutual agreement.

Srila Prabhupada: Because he is European, he is thinking in a democratic way. The hard fact is that truth is not accepted by ordinary men. Truth is truth. Either it is in your mind or not; truth is absolute. Only highly elevated persons can understand the truth. Out of many truthful men, perhaps only one can understand Krsna as He is.

 

ethos