The Three Causes of Sin

Human beings are social beings, hence, they have to follow certain social codes. But they must follow some spiritual codes as well.

Because of illusion or some other reasons, if people break these codes, these “dos” and “don’ts”, sometimes we call it “sin” or Pápa and at other times, “crime” or Aparádha.

If the violation is in the spiritual code, rather the religious code, it is termed as “sin”. If the violation is against the legal code it is known as “crime”.

Sin is sometimes based entirely on dogmas and not on cardinal human values. Wise people will never entertain a conception of sin based on religious dogma.

Rather, they will judge with discrimination the correctness of the code according to cardinal human values. The concept of sin has been given by people on the basis of religion, religious dogmas and cardinal human values. As intellectuals and developed people of the second half of the 20th century, we should keep away from religious dogma and attach the highest importance to cardinal human values.

Long ago Vyása said the following about sin:

Sin is the action which stops the progress of the society. Punya or Virtue is the action which accelerates social progress.

Crime is any action which goes against the different legal codes made by the different nations, according to their spatial, personal and collective differences.

In Saḿskrta, crime is known as Aparádha.

Sin or Pápa should be formulated on the basis of cardinal human values. This was also supported by Vyasa.

Criminal codes are generally framed by politicians according to their own standards.

Sometimes they include a tinge of humanity. Sometimes they do not.

Thus, the present-day legal codes are not necessarily humanitarian.

Rational people may defy a legal code but they should never violate cardinal human values.

I would never tell the people of a country to follow their legal codes blindly, but would tell them to always follow cardinal human values.

The cardinal human values are the silver lining between the psycho-spiritual world and the spiritual world.

They are at the meeting-point of these two strata – the spiritual stratum on one side and the psycho-spiritual stratum on the other.

Saḿskrta has 2 words for sin:

1. “Pratyaváya” is something which should be done but is not done
2. “Pápa” is something which should not be done but is done

The combined name of Pápa and Pratyaváya is “Pátaka”.

Papa

Cardinal human values does not refer to any religious code.

Religious code is the basis of religious dogmas. You should revolt against religious dogmas.

The gap between cardinal human values and crime should be lessened.

The smaller the gap the better.

Cardinal human values are mostly unchangeable. They may change after a long time as they remain associated with the physical world, but it is natural that they will not have frequent changes because of their subjective approach.

Crime will undergo transformation according to changes in time, space and the collective body. Hence, both the conceptions cannot be exactly the same – difference between them will remain. But efforts should be made to lessen the differences. This task will be the duty of Sadvipras or spiritual revolutionaries.

The 3 Causes of Sin

If sin and crime are considered together there are three reasons for them.

1. Shortage of physical and psychic food

2. Non-utilization of over-accumulated physical and psychic food

3. Stagnancy in the psychic and physical strata

If human beings lack the basic physical necessities they will not be able to follow higher pursuits.

A person’s sense of discrimination is disturbed if he is confronted with only a little physical hardship.

• If an intellectual becomes angry, he may utter insentient words.

Hence, the shortage of physical wealth:

• results in restlessness
• causes the loss of people’s sense of discrimination

This makes the people naturally tend towards brutality.

This is why communism has tended towards brutality.

Likewise, people can take “dos” to be “don’ts” and vice versa if:

• there is a dearth of intellectual pabulum
• the intellectual standard of the people is not high

An example is a communal riot where:

• a little innocent boy is killed
• the person who encourages the riot becomes the people’s leader.

Where the intellectual standard of the people is low, people commit blunders – prompted by such leaders they become beasts.

Those backward countries which have less socio-politico-economic consciousness in the people tend to have more immorality.

In such countries the leaders misguide the people in order to collect votes.

I call such leaders “political satans” or “political pigs”.

Such pigs become leaders only when the intellectual standard of the common people is low.

In a country with shortages of physical and intellectual pabula, people ultimately become beasts and commit sins and crimes.

To murder a person during a riot is both a crime and a sin.

In political clashes innocent people are killed. This is also a crime as well as a sin.