What is truth? Vedanta on Physical, Moral, and Ultimate Reality

A truth is not only that which is in accordance with fact, but also that which is aligned with universal laws and the nature of experience. At the worldly level, there are three kinds of universal laws that human beings must abide by—or face the unpleasant consequences: physical laws, psychological laws, and moral laws.

Very early in life, we learn the laws of gravity because falling means scraped knees. We discover that putting a hand in fire burns. Both gravity and fire are just two of countless physical laws that keep us in check. Another physical law is the law of change: every one of us will grow old, sicken, and die. There’s no negotiation here. In this world of opposites, you can’t have creation without destruction, birth without death.

Psychological laws also govern us. Sorrow, fear, and anger will always feel bad; security, peace, and happiness will always feel good. We know certain actions cause mental and emotional damage—often through abuse or injustice—so we naturally avoid them, or seek help when we can’t.

Then there are moral laws, which help prevent harm to others—usually by forbidding lying, stealing, or killing. Moral laws are the spirit of The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Out of empathy, we refrain from harm; out of self-interest, we also avoid harm to escape retribution. “Do no harm” is a truth that protects both ourselves and others.

In short: rub against God, and God rubs right back. There is no bargaining. Even if you seem to get away with breaking the rules today, karma ensures you won’t tomorrow. To live a relatively peaceful life, it helps to know the rules.

But what about ultimate truth? What separates truth from non-truth? In the West, the debate often spirals into circular logic and philosophical gymnastics. Vedanta offers a simpler test: the truth is that which cannot be negated. It is what remains when all else—objects, relationships, ideas, concepts, and beliefs—is thrown into a red-hot furnace and reduced to nothing.

As the Bhagavad Gita says:

Weapons do not slay it, nor does fire burn it. Water does not drown it, nor does wind dry it. It cannot be slain, burnt, drowned, or dried. It is changeless, all-pervading, stable, immovable, and eternal. (2.23–24)

The one truth that cannot be slain, burnt, drowned, or dried is the truth, “I am.”

Upon investigation, you can negate everything else, but you cannot negate the fact that you are having an experience—even if that experience is one of “nothingness.”

The only remaining question is: What is this “I” that experiences? What is the one real truth on which all other truths depend?