Satyakama's Honesty

Young Satyakama wished to study with the great sage Haridrumata Gautama. When the guru asked his lineage, Satyakama did not know his father. He went to his mother Jabala, who honestly said, "I do not know your father. I am Jabala and you are Satyakama. Call yourself Satyakama Jabala." The boy returned and repeated his mother's words without shame or invention. The guru was deeply moved. "Only a Brahmin — one of true noble character — could speak so fearlessly. I will teach you." Satyakama's education began not with scriptures but with tending four hundred lean cows in the forest. Nature itself became his teacher. The wind, fire, sun, and birds each taught him a quarter of Brahman. He returned radiant with knowledge, having learned that truth is the door to all wisdom.