The Power of Truth.
Truth, according to
traditional Hindu belief, has magical power of its own, a power to which people
might turn in times of need.
The famous act of truth, a conditional statement in which
the first part is a true statement about one's past behavior and the second
part is a request for a specific result (for example, "If I have always
given to those who begged from me, may this fire not burn me"), is one
method of appealing to this power.
The power of truth was also evoked in ordeal trials, and it
was considered as the power that made the ordeal a genuine way of putting
individuals to the test.
