त्रुटि-शुद्धिः
Sanskrit
IAST
English (literal)
When error becomes clear, let the mind be humble. Correction is duty; there is no shame in serving truth.
English (poetic)
To retract is not to fall; it is to rise.
Commentary
Bhāṣya
This hymn makes correction (śodhana) a virtue rather than a humiliation. A community collapses not because it errs, but because it cannot admit error. The mantra therefore ties humility to clarity: when the flaw is seen plainly, the mind becomes soft, not defensive. This is a scientific ethic and a spiritual ethic at once: the laboratory and the conscience share the same rule — revise when evidence compels. In human affairs, propaganda weaponizes pride: it tells people that changing their mind is betrayal. Param Veda answers: changing your mind under truth is dharma. The line “na lajjā satya-sevane” is a civilizational medicine. A culture of honest retraction lowers violence, because it removes the need to ‘win’ at any cost. It also dissolves
communal animosity: when groups can say ‘we were wrong’, cycles of vengeance lose fuel.
Praśna–Uttara
Prayoga
- Keep a weekly errata: one error you discovered and corrected.
- Build ‘two-person verification’ for important decisions.
- Apologize with specifics: what was wrong, what changes, how you will measure it.