Satyameva jayate: truth alone wins
Satyameva jayate ("truth alone wins") is from the Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6, part of the Atharva Veda. The sage Angiras teaches it to the householder Shaunaka. The verse goes on: by truth the path of the gods is laid, on which sages climb to truth’s highest home. India took the line as its national motto.
Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6
सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं
satyam eva jayate nānṛtam
Truth alone wins, not falsehood.
The whole passage
Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6
सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः ।येनाऽऽक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥
satyameva jayate nānṛtaṃ satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |yenā''kramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā yatra tat satyasya paramaṃ nidhānam ||
Truth alone wins, not falsehood. By truth the path of the gods is laid out, the road on which the sages, their wishes met, climb to where truth has its highest home.
Who said it, and to whom
Angiras to Shaunaka
Shaunaka, a wealthy householder, comes to Angiras in the proper way and asks one question: what is it which, once known, makes all of this known (1.1.3)? The whole Upanishad answers him. By the third chapter Angiras is describing how the Self is found: by truth, discipline, right knowledge and a disciplined life (3.1.5). This line comes next.
How the acharyas read it
Shankara
Shankara reads satya here as truthful living, the practice of the person who speaks and acts in truth. The truthful one prevails and the liar does not, and truth is the road the sages walked to the place where truth is kept.
Where others read it differently
Every school keeps the plain sense. One detail people check: the Upanishad has jayate, "wins". Some editions print jayati, with the same meaning.
Writing it out
- सत्यमेव जयतेsatyameva jayateAs on the State Emblem
- सत्यमेव जयते नानृतंsatyam eva jayate nānṛtamWith the rest of the half-verse
The State Emblem of India, adopted in 1950, carries सत्यमेव जयते in Devanagari under the Lion Capital. The verse continues with नानृतं, "not falsehood".
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Copy or share the line
सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं
satyam eva jayate nānṛtam
Truth alone wins, not falsehood.
Angiras to Shaunaka · Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6
The same thought in the Gita
Read next to Bhagavad Gita 17.15: Krishna on the discipline of speech: words that do not hurt, that are true, kind and helpful.
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Questions people ask
- Satyameva jayate is taken from which Upanishad?
- The Mundaka Upanishad, verse 3.1.6. The Mundaka belongs to the Atharva Veda.
- What is the full verse of satyameva jayate?
- सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः । येनाक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥ Truth alone wins, not falsehood; by truth the path of the gods is laid, on which the sages climb to truth’s highest home.
- Who made satyameva jayate famous?
- Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya is widely credited with popularising it during the freedom movement. It became the national motto of India with the State Emblem in 1950.
Sources and method
Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6, Atharva Veda. Sanskrit from the Wisdom corpus, read against the sanskritdocuments.org edition (KB up_mundaka.3.1.6).
The English is Wisdom's own, drafted from the Sanskrit with Shankara's commentary (S. Sitarama Sastri's public-domain English) and checked against Swami Paramananda (1919) for tone. Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, under human review.