Puṇya and Pāpa
I had written in the previous post
about ideal qualities, which according to Hindu religions, every person should
possess.
But, Hindu religions are very
practical. They know very well that all the people, at all times cannot possess
all these qualities. A well-laid scheme covering all will be discussed in
detail when we talk about purusharthas later.
Again, Hindu religions do not
consider those who do not possess these qualities as sinners. After all ideal
of these religions is cessation of suffering and salvation for all.
Does that mean, there is no concept
of ‘sin’ in Hindu religions? There are similarities and major differences on
the treatment of ‘sin’ between Hindu religions and that of others. As I wrote
in the first post, ‘man’ is at the core of these religions and hence these
religions introduce twin concept of Papa [demerit] and Punya [merit] to
streamline and guide people rather than as a deviation from the path of God or
some philosophical principle.
To understand the twin, but opposing,
principles of Puṇya and Pāpa of Hindu religion, one is better off
with at least scanty knowledge of two other principles related to these – Karma
and Rebirth. We will discuss karma and rebirth in detail in later post but here
a brief outline is presented.
The word Karma denotes action.
Every action produces some effects and the person who acts accrues the fruits
of every action, whether good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant and favourable or
unfavourable. The sum of these fruits is carried along by the soul of the
individual from birth to birth and these fruits fructify at appropriate times.
Hindus believe soul is immortal and it
migrates from old body to a new one. However, many people have a very popular
but wrong idea of how these two theories work. Many believe, wrongly, that if I
help a cow now, that cow will also take another birth along with me and help me
back. Or if I hit a tiger on the face, the same tiger will take rebirth to just
hit me back, if not for anything else. What has to be understood clearly is
that it is the sum of the fruits that fructify at appropriate times and not the
individual agents who were involved in the act of creating those fruits.
So, any action(s) that create
negative karma violating the individual and public space and that which brings forth
negative consequences is called Papa or sin in Hindu religions. Over the period
of centuries, Hindu religions have identified such actions and classified them.
As there are many regions and traditions in this vast land, a large number of
such actions are available. What is presented here is just an introduction and
not an exhaustive discussion on all the lists.
Puṇya
The word Puṇya means “Holy, Auspicious, Good and
Virtuous.” The word denotes all good or meritorious thoughts, speech and
actions. It also refers to merits accrued through good or meritorious thoughts,
speech and actions. Sometimes, the word Puṇya also refers to all actions that are beneficiary, the ones
that lead to positive results and those that elevate the person from mundane
levels. So, the word Puṇya can refer to meritorious actions like
charity, good thoughts about the wellbeing of other people, pleasant speech
that soothes others, the merits accrued by all such actions, a prayer,
pilgrimage or even a meditation. Puṇya can refer to all these or simply any one of them.
Hindu religion encourages everyone to
think, speak and act in meritorious or virtuous ways. In addition to the
obvious conducive atmosphere that these may create, there is a belief that all
such actions help a person to accrue meritorious fruits or good fruits that the
person may enjoy in this birth or in the next one. There is also a belief that
all meritorious deeds and thoughts help a person to rise above the mundane
level and pay attention to the individual salvation and also universal
wellbeing of all creatures.
Unlike other faiths, in Hindu
traditions, the reward for meritorious actions is not merely a heaven that a
person is supposed to reach after death. Though there are references to swarga
in Hindu śāstras and heaven is one of the benefits a
person may attain, that is not the end of everything.
Though the religious tone is
unmistakable, the overall moral development of a human being is the central
point of the theory of Puṇya. By extension, the overall wellbeing
of society is also aimed at.
Pāpa
In religious traditions across the
world, the word sin is understood, somewhat loosely stated, as a wilful
rebellion or disobedience against what has been laid out by God. For example,
the Original Sin [of Christianity] is believed to be shared by the people of
the world with Adam, the original sinner. Almost all the religions have their
own versions of sin, sinners and redemption.
In Hinduism, Pāpa or Pātaka, words generally used for sin, refer
to the doctrine which deals with the emancipation of the individual, the
impediments in that and the process of overcoming those impediments.
However,
because of its extremely religious nature, the doctrine of pātaka also deals with the acts of going
against the will of God, etc. Therefore, Hindu doctrine of Sin is, in the
western parlance, religio-ethical in nature rather than merely either religious
or moral since in Hinduism, religion and ethics are not separate and distinct
entities.
But why an action is considered as
sinful at all? Or for that matter, even
if some actions are considered as sinful, why do men or women commit sins? What
are the actions that are considered as sinful and why? If someone commits a
sin, what are the ways of redemption?
According to Hindu religions, every
human being is composed of three gunas or qualities called Sattva, Rajas
and Tamas. These three qualities combine in different ways in different
people and in such combinations, dominance of the quality Rajas impel
people to indulge in certain types of actions that are harmful. In Bhagavad
Gita, Lord Krishna says that “lust, anger and greed” ruin men and they must
shun them [Bhagavad Gita XVI. 21] and also “it is lust and anger
springing from Rajas….are the enemies of man in this world” [Bhagavad
Gita III.37].
Any thought, speech, action,
association or even an event that degrades and disturbs a human being mentally
and physically is considered as sinful. It is so because any such ruination is
an impediment to his final emancipation. By extension, such ruinations can also
potentially disturb the equilibrium of a society in which a person may live. In
this sense anything that brings a person down, disturbs the society and wean
away a person and a group of people away from the path of God are considered
sinful.
The number and names of actions that
are considered as pātakas have been dealt with from the very
ancient Hindu scriptures. The numbers and names have varied over the period of
time and among the classes of scriptures. However, five sins are considered to
be heinous or grave sins and here also sages have differed on names.
Following are generally accepted pañca mahāpātakas or five heinous sins though there may
be differences in certain regions and times:
1.
theft,
2.
drinking of liquor,
3.
murder,
4.
violation of the preceptor’s bed and
5.
anyone who associates himself/herself with the perpetrators
of the four sins before mentioned [Chandogya
Upanishad V. 10. 9].
Many people replace the fourth one with
abortion or bhrūṇahati and some replace the last one with govadha or
killing of a cow.
Numerous classifications exist in the
Hindu sacred literature on the types of sins and expiations required to redeem
one self. Generally two are well known: Mahāpātakas [mortal sins] and Upapātakas [minor sins]. A few important mahāpātakas,
upapātakas and prāyascittas are given below. It is not possible to
deal with all of them as the list is exhaustive and those who are interested in
knowing more or for particular sins or expiations can refer to numerous books
that deal with pātakas and prāyascittas.
Mortal Sins
Hatyā or Vadha
Hatyā
or Vadha denotes killing a human being.
This is considered the most heinous of all the mahāpātakas
or
grave or mortal sins mentioned in the Hindu śāstras. According to Hindu traditions, no
human being has got any right to take away another life, leave alone human
being. Whether a person kills another directly or induces somebody to kill or
abets in killing or offers the protection to persons or a person who kill(s) a
human being or turns away when the actual killing takes place, he/she is guilty
of committing the sin of killing another. In the Hindu scriptures several
prominent types of killing are discussed and few prominent ones are:
Bhrūna Hatyā
Killing of foetus or abortion is also
considered sinful. Though not born, the embryo under development is also
considered as a life and hence no one is considered to have any right to
terminate the coming of a jive or individual self to life. The couple who
request for abortion, the persons who conduct or even assist in such an action
are treated as sinners. If anyone resorts to abortion without any plausible
reason except to continue the enjoyment of pleasures are considered as lowly
and fallen.
Śiśu Hatyā
According to Hindu culture and
religion, children below the age of twelve are exempted from punishment for all
wrong doings, whether done wilfully or ignorantly. Killing of such innocent
children deliberately or otherwise is looked down upon in Hindu society.
Go
Hatyā
In Hindu traditions, cows are
worshipped as they are believed to be repositories of all gods. Since almost
all the Hindu traditions hold that cows embody and carry within their bodies
all the gods and goddesses, killing a cow is also treated as one of the gravest
sins in all the traditions.
Pāna
Drinking of intoxicating liquor and
other such stuff are prohibited in Hindu religion. Whether prepared from
molasses or flour or from flowers, all intoxicating liquid are prohibited as
they are perceived to damage the mind and the body of the individual. They
cause loss of mental balance in a person and in turn lead him/her to more vices
and all of them destroy a person and also cause great disturbance to society at
large. Liquor is seen as damaging finer sensitivities of an individual and act
as a great impediment to one’s spiritual progress. Hence the śāstras highly recommend that one should stay
away from all alcohol.
Theft
Depriving someone of his/her property
and wealth, whether in small quantity or large, either directly or
clandestinely or indirectly is considered as one of the grave sins in Hindu
scriptures. Robbing poor people occur in all the scriptures as one of the grave
sins.
Sexual
Deviations
Following sexual actions / intentions
are considered as sins:
Guruvaṅganāgama or having sexual intercourse with the
wife of one’s Guru or preceptor is considered as a sinful activity.
Incest or having sex with one’s own
family, that is, with the father or mother or brother or sister is considered
as a sin. Some of the scriptures also include sex with sisters or brothers of
mother or father and their children as one of the pātakas though there are numerous variations
on this, differing from region to region.
Sex with animals, other than human
beings, is considered sinful.
Saṅgha or
Association
Māhāpātakisaṁsarga or association with one who is
committing mortal sins in itself is considered as a heinous crime and mortal
sin. Such associations are perceived to corrupt one’s mind and are thought of
to be highly degrading in the long run as long associations are bound to draw
the negative qualities from either side.
Upapātakas and Prāyascitta
Some scriptures include gambling,
telling lies, reviling scriptures, destroying what belongs to another or public
as sins and the list is long. Those who are interested can go through books
like Prāyascitta Viveka, Yājñavalkya Smrti and Manu Smrti.
Prāyascitta or ways to
remove sin
The word Prāyascitta
means
purification of sin. That is, it clears the impressions made by the act of sin
on the mind of the sinner. It is an action undertaken to correct the error made
in the past. There are divergent views on prayascitta as a tool to remove the
sins committed. There are some that say that for the sins that are committed
intentionally, there is no escape route and one has to suffer the consequences
of one’s actions. Those actions that resulted in sin, due to ignorance or
negligence or committed unintentionally, can be atoned by resorting to various
practices prescribed. There is also a contrary view that in Hindu dharm's
scope, hope is given to all whether they are sinners or not. Even the persons
who committed mortal sins should be provided with opportunity to repent and
correct themselves. For Hindu religion, per se, does not accept
eternally damned souls [in a technical sense, some Bhakti schools do
accept the concept, but it is not widely prevalent]. Accordingly, there are
huge numbers of prāyascittas or acts to remove sins in the Hindu
scriptures. There are also several ways or means suggested to reduce the
consequences of sinful actions. Following are few of them:
Confession
It is generally believed [wrongly] that
there is no practice of confession in Hindu religious customs. If confession is
taken as an act of praying to God for freeing oneself of the mistakes committed
in the past, we have number of passages that indicate such prayers. Rg Veda
contains numerous verses that contain prayers asking for forgiveness. In the
Dharma Shastra literature, various instances the place, time and the manner of
confessions are given. However, the major difference between confession in
Hinduism and other religions is that confession is not to remove guilt from
one’s mind; it rather initiates series of actions that are meant to reduce or
remove the consequences of the sin.
Repentance
Repentance or anutāpa is one of the major steps towards
redemption. A sinner should feel for the mistake committed and the victims. It
is not series of actions, but this repentance that makes a sinner fit to
initiate prayascitta.
Prāṇāyāma
This restraint of prana in oneself and
in the atmosphere around oneself is an age old practice of calming the mind and
senses. This is one of the first few steps in all Hindu religious customs and
therefore prayascitta is no different. The numbers of prāṇāyāma and ways of doing them are many.
People who are interested in knowing more about techniques of prāṇāyāma can refer to books dealing with Yoga.
Tapas
Tapas or austerity is the centre of all
expiations in Hindu religion. There are divergent opinions on what constitutes
austerity. Sage Gautama says that celibacy, truthfulness, fasting, sleeping on
the ground, reciting the sacred syllables every day without fail and bathing
thrice a day comprise austerity [Gau. Dh. Su. 19.15]. Number of days one
should observe austerity differs on the sin committed and so is the extent of
fasting. There are some injunctions where fasting gains central place and
follows the lunar cycle and in certain cases, the period goes up to one year.
Japa
Japa is a practice of repeating a sacred
syllable. It could be a mantra given by one’s preceptor or the God’s
name or the sacred syllables prescribed for particular expiation. The number of
repetition also varies from situation to situation. In fact, Japa is a
constituent of a person’s daily routine. There are verses from various Purāṇas that say that taking God’s name
expiates one from even the heinous of crimes.
Dāna
Dāna or charity is a popular practice that
is being practiced even today. On auspicious days, on certain occasions, as
part of one’s expiations, or simply as part of routine affairs in life, Hindus
give charity to poor and needy. Dāna is not a separate form of practice
especially when it comes to sins and prayascitta. It is a part of the
series of actions that have to be performed for redemption.
Upavāsa
Upavāsa
or fasting is an integral part of Hindu’s life. Many fast on certain days [like
Monday or the eleventh day of a lunar cycle, ekādaśi] that are considered auspicious to
gain merits or as part of a ritual or as a part of preparation for penitence.
Tirtha
Yātra
Pilgrimage or tirtha yātra is eulogized as having power to
destroy all kinds of sins. However, a person should prepare and execute the
pilgrimage as per the procedure given, like going on foot, fasting, offering
oblations to at holy places, etc.
Conclusion
As one can see from the above, the
principles of Puṇya and Pāpa, though religious in nature, have been
devised and used by Hindus to purify and prepare a person in his/her spiritual
quest. All impediments to that are considered as harmful and one should avoid
actions that lead to one’s own downfall.
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Those
who want to know more about papa and punya can go through the following works:
P.V.
Kane. History of Dharma Shastras,
5 vols, 1962-1975, Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
Chitralekha
Singh and Premnath. Hinduism,
2002, New Delhi: Crest Publishing House
A.
Sharma. The Purusharthas: A Study in
Hindu Axiology, 1982, East Lansing: Asian Studies Centre, Michigan
State University.
