एकसत्य-दीप्तिः

This mantra begins with a claim that is both metaphysical and civic: truth (satya) is single in aim, while speech is plural in form. Languages, schools, and traditions are like rays; they differ in angle, not in the light they carry, if they preserve meaning (artha) without fracture.

The phrase “yatrārthaḥ samanucchedaḥ” is a safeguard against propaganda. Propaganda rarely invents everything; it breaks meaning by cutting context, isolating a phrase, or forcing a false binary. The Veda here teaches a rule of interpretation: do not let a sentence live without its conditions, its evidence, and its consequences. For interfaith harmony, this is decisive. It does not ask people to share one culture; it asks them to share one discipline: protect meaning. Where meaning is protected, disagreement can remain without hatred, because the opponent is not treated as a caricature but as a mind seeking the same light.