Truth is that which pleases God
One day a hunter was chasing a pig in the forest. The pig ran and took shelter in a nearby ashram of a rishi. Soon the hunter came to the ashram and asked the rishi if he knew where the pig was. The rishi realized that if he spoke the truth the pig's life owuld be in danger, so he said "I do not know."
One day a dacoit was running away with the good and faithful wife of a man. Somehow she managed to run away from him and entered a village of farmers. She took shelter in a Brahmin's house. Soon the dacoit came to the Brahman's house in search of the woman and asked the Brahmin if he had seen a woman. The Brahmin considering himself to be a truthful man, told the dacoit the truth, that is, the woman was hiding in his house. Instantly the dacoit caught the woman again and was about to take her away when the villagers came and rescued her.
The moral of these two stories is that, being truthful has deeper implication than merely speaking the truth. We have to note that while the rishi's lies saved the life of the pig, the Brahmin's words of truth were about to ruin the innocent woman. Sometimes truth produces harmful results and untruth produces godo results.
The speaker has to be conscious of the result his words produce, and then he should speak. The scriptures say that the 'Truth' must express the central idea and must definitely be beneficial. Truth should always try to please god. If one's words harm someone who is innocent, then the speaker is not being truthful.
Source
- Story told by Maharshi Nagendranath Bhaduri, excerpt from the book "One Hundred and Eight Messages from Maharshi Nagendranath"; Story 5, Page # 53, 2012 print