Truth is a moral principle, while reality is an existential principle, and the two presuppose each other. What is real is also true. Truth always triumphs (satyam eva jayate) – this is India's national motto. And all that revolves around truth gives strength. That is why we can say: virtue is what we must follow.
Man lives under a compulsion to act, and even to keep himself alive he needs to be active. One sign of life is movement, change, action. As long as his heart beats, that in itself is an act, even if his senses no longer work.
Seeming inaction is active too – just think of the somatic functions – and from a spiritual point of view even activity is complete inaction if it does not serve man's ascent, his enlightenment. Action is probably better than non-action, as long as it is moved at least by energy or passion, better still by goodness and a readiness to help, or even by being a channel for divine compassion, as opposed to an inaction swayed by dullness, by inertia. Yet with action comes the possibility of error, which is perhaps why it is said that whoever does not act makes only one mistake, and that mistake is inaction itself, which is, however, reckoned a grave one.
So there is the compulsion to act, then there are the motivating factors, and the fruits of action, which, when they are favourable, sweep one into real euphoria. Yet the magic of doing is not enough to perfect us; conscious action is needed. Think the situation through, reckon with the consequences, weigh their worth, and decide. Decision is the end of doubt.
What guarantees the high quality of action is action that is just. But the terse injunction: act justly! does not merely urge us to keep the law; it hints at something more inward, a higher order of values. Worldly justice, beyond dispute, is a noble deed too, if it can be achieved at all, but then: three people – four truths. So many of us, so many ways of seeing, opinions and norms, which is to say that worldly truths with a small ‘t’ are always many, while Truth with a capital ‘T’ is one.
Order reigns in the universe. The great order of the cosmos is mirrored in man's moral calling. It is most fortunate when his deeds reflect this moral order and so, in turn, the order of the world. Such is the authentic life, such is just action. There is no question here of defensively avoiding injustice, of some passive contemplation or withdrawal, no. If one must act, and act one must, then act justly!
Could just action be the law of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? After all, it would be just to repay hurt with hurt, just to repay falsehood with falsehood. And yet this equation is worth changing, so that what comes about is not justice dispensed but service to a higher truth, to grace. Do not be inhumanly just, for to err is human, to forgive divine.
In this injunction, justice is not fidelity to the facts, not impartial judgement, not even mere moral steadfastness, but far more a spiritually authentic life. Seen from the heights of heaven, it is not a matter of meting out worldly, human justice. There is no need for neutral arbiters who belong nowhere, but for practitioners committed to the absolute Truth, who lead authentic lives.
Man is known by his ideals, and our deeds follow our ideals. If we are just in thought, word and deed, great moral strength is the result. Unconditional commitment to Truth purifies man, and from moral purity springs strength – unquestionable, unassailable and incorruptible strength.