ਬੋਲੀਐ (boleeai)
Meaning: verb, passive voice; third person, singular: Should be spoken or one should speak.
Quote:
ਬੋਲੀਐ ਸਚੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਝੂਠੁ ਨ ਬੋਲੀਐ॥
boleeai sach dharam jhooṭh na boleeai.
One should speak the truth and what is right, and should not tell a lie.
– Sheikh Farid, Guru Granth Sahib, 488
Message: Standing and dying for truth
Would you die for the truth?
Most of us wouldn’t. But this man did.
Contrary to his noble example, we in fact lie for very insignificant things and incidents.
Why do we tell lies?
Is it just a bad habit or because it is easier to evade the difficult truth by lying?
Why tell lies when we know that one day we will die and depart from this world empty-handed? Why then allow our peace of mind to be ruined by getting attached to falsehood.
The verse above reminds us that, like sincere disciples, let us walk on the path that the Guru tells us to tread.
Let us avoid telling lies. Let us speak the truth and support what is right.
The objector and the rebel who raises his voice against what he believes to be the injustice of the present and the wrongs of the past is the one who hunches the world along. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer, leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, and author, 1857-1938
Image: Jaswant Singh Khalra, a Sikh human rights activist from India, who upheld the tradition of truth and justice, though he had to pay the price with his life for it. Want to know more? Read here, and listen to his last speech.
Etymology: From Sanskrit boll (speak) → Prakrit bollai (speaks).
