PRIDE OF TRUTH

Kausika was a great sage, very proud of his habit of always speaking out the truth, whether the matter was great or small and whether the result was good or bad. So he called himself as Kausika Satyavadin, the speaker of truth. One day, when he was doing penance in his forest grove, he saw a traveler fleeing in panic and hiding in dense bush in the neighborhood. There were hundreds of bushes all round, and tracking him out would have taken hours.
A dozen robbers also came to the spot in ten minutes, aimlessly searching for the man everywhere; up the trees, and in the pits, and along the footpaths. Then they saw Kausika and knew him at once.
“Reversed Sir” said the chief of the robber” did you see a traveler go this way? You are famous for speaking the truth at all costs. Speak”
Kausika thought, if I speak the truth, these cruel men will kill the poor fellow. But, why should I utter a lie and sacrifice the principles of life time for his sake? And he told the robber chief, “There he is, in the bush.” The robbers pulled the traveler out, killed him despite the sage’s entreaties, and took away all he had.
When Kausika died, instead of being sent to heaven, as he had expected, he found himself in hell. Indignantly he asked Yama, the God of Death “Why am I here?”
The lord said,” You have been condemned to thousand years in Hell for your telling the robbers the hiding place of the traveler and letting him to kill.”
“What” said Kausika,”Why should I condemn for speaking the truth?”
“You should not deviate from truth,” said Yama, “If he is enough strong to prevent injustice. God can always speak truth as He is powerful to prevent its consequence. Else, he must refuse to speak the truth and take the justice. Where was the necessity for you to be so truthful about that poor man’s hiding place, knowing, as you did, that they would pull him out and kill him, and that would be powerless to prevent the deed? You should have remained silent and taken the risk of being killed yourself. The robber might never have found the man at all. For the sake of your vanity, you spoke the truth, and this is the punishment. None but the brave can utter the truth always,”
Kausika was then sent back to hell.