Sin and Wrongdoing

If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

The learned man, however, even if he be destitute of beauty, displayeth his lustre by refraining from speaking ill of others and well of himself. No example, however, can be met with, in this world, of a person shining brilliantly on account of attributes to be found in him in their reputed measure. If one repenteth of a wrong done by him, that repentance washeth off his sin. The resolution of never doing it again saveth him from future sin, even as, O thou best of Brahmanas, he may save himself from sin by any of those expiations obtained in the scriptures. Even this, O regenerate one, is the sruti that may be seen in respect of virtue. He that having before been virtuous, committeth a sin, or committeth it unknowingly may destroy that sin. For virtue, O Brahmana, driveth off the sin that men commit from ignorance. A man, after having committed a sin, should cease to regard himself any longer as a man. No man can conceal his sins. The gods behold what one does, also the Being that is within every one. He that with piety and without detraction hideth the faults of the honest and the wise like holes in his own attire, surely seeketh his salvation. If a man seeketh redemption after having committed a sin, without doubt he is purged of all his sins and looketh pure and resplendent like the moon emerged from the clouds. A man that seeketh redemption is washed of all his sins, even as the sun, upon rising, dispelleth all darkness. O best of Brahmanas, it is temptation that constitutes the basis of sin. Men that are ignorant commit sin, yielding to temptation alone. Sinful men generally cover themselves with a virtuous exterior, like wells whose mouths are covered by long grass. Outwardly they seem to possess self-control and holiness and indulge in preaching virtuous texts which, in their mouth are of little meaning. Indeed, everything may be noticed in them except conduct that is truly virtuous!’

If one sneezes, one should be blessed by those present. All that are ill or afflicted with disease, should be blessed. The extension of their lives should be prayed for.[624] One should never address an eminent person familiarly (by using the word Twam). Under even the great difficulties one should never do this. To address such a person as Twam and to slay him are equal, persons of learning are degraded by such a style of address. Unto those that are inferior, or equal, or unto disciples, such a word can be used. The heart of the sinful man always proclaims the sins he has committed. Those men who have deliberately committed sins meet with destruction by seeking to conceal them from the good. Indeed, they that are confirmed sinners seek to conceal their sinful acts from others.[625] Such persons think that their sins are witnessed by neither men nor the deities. The sinful man, overwhelmed by his sins, takes birth in a miserable order of being. The sins of such a man continually grow, even as the interest the usurer charge (on the loans he grants) increase from day to day. If, having committed a sin, one seeks to have it covered by righteousness, that sin becomes destroyed and leads to righteousness instead of other sins.[626] If a quantity of water be poured upon salt, the latter immediately dissolves away. Even so when expiation is performed, sin dissolves away. For these reasons one should never conceal a sin. Concealed, it is certain to increase. Having committed a sin, one should confess it in the presence of those that are good. They would destroy it immediately. If one does not enjoy in good time what one has stored with hope, the consequence is that the stored wealth finds another owner after the death of him who has stored it. The wise have said that the mind of every creature is the true test of Righteousness. Hence, all creatures in the world have an innate tendency to achieve Righteousness. One should achieve Righteousness alone or single-handed.

Even he that is wicked should be subdued by fair means. It is better to lay down life itself in the observance of righteousness than to win victory by sinful means. Like a cow, O king, perpetrated sin does not immediately produce its fruits. That sin overwhelms the perpetrator after consuming his roots and branches. A sinful person, acquiring wealth by sinful means, rejoices greatly. But the sinner, gaining advancement by sinful ways, becomes wedded to sin. Thinking that virtue has no efficacy, he jeers at men of righteous behaviour. Disbelieving in virtue, he at last meets with destruction. Though enmeshed in the noose of Varuna, he still regards himself immortal. Like unto a large leathern bag puffed up with wind, the sinner dissociates himself entirely from virtue. Soon, however, he disappears like a tree on the riverside washed away with its very roots. Then people, beholding him resemble an earthen pot broken on a stony surface, speak of him as he deserves. The king should, therefore, seek both victory and the enhancement of his resources, by righteous means."'"

They said: O our father! Ask forgiveness of our sins for us, for lo! we were sinful.

Forsake the outwardness of sin and the inwardness thereof. Lo! those who garner sin will be awarded that which they have earned.

But as for those in whose hearts is disease, it only addeth wickedness to their wickedness, and they die while they are disbelievers.

1. From the sins which knowingly or unknowingly we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord, release us! 2. If awake, or if asleep, to sin inclined, I have committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall be, as if from a wooden post, release me! 3. As one released from a wooden post, as one in a sweat by bathing (is cleansed) of filth, as ghee is clarified by the sieve, may all (the gods) clear me from sin!

and the consequences of sinful deeds. 1. With fruit turned backward thou verily didst grow, O apâmârga: do thou drive all curses quite far away from here! 2. The evil deeds and foul, or the sinful acts which we have committed, with thee, O apâmârga, whose face is turned to every side, do we wipe them out (apa mrigmahe). 3. If we have sat together with one who has black teeth, or diseased nails, or one who is deformed, with thee, O apâmârga, we wipe all that out (apa mrigmahe).

1. On Trita the gods wiped off this sin, Trita wiped it off on human beings; hence if Grâhi (attack of disease) has seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm! 2. Enter into the rays, into smoke, O sin; go into the vapours, and into the fog! Lose thyself on the foam of the river! 'Wipet off, O Pûshan, the misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion! 3. Deposited in twelve places is that which has been wiped off Trita, the sins belonging to humanity. Hence if Grâhi has seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm!

Fine are the laws which guide the good, Abstruse, and hardly understood; Only the soul, enthroned within The breast of each, knows right from sin. But thou art wild and weak of soul, And spurnest, like thy race, control; The true and right thou canst not find, The blind consulting with the blind. Incline thine ear and I will teach The cause that prompts my present speech. This tempest of thy soul assuage, Nor blame me in thine idle rage. On this great sin thy thoughts bestow, The sin for which I lay thee low. Thou, Bali, in thy brother's life Hast robbed him of his wedded wife, And keepest, scorning ancient right, His Ruma for thine own delight. Thy son's own wife should scarcely be More sacred in thine eyes than she. All duty thou hast scorned, and hence Comes punishment for dire offence. For those who blindly do amiss There is, I ween, no way but this: To check the rash who dare to stray From customs which the good obey, I may not, sprung of Kshatriya line, Forgive this heinous sin of thine: The laws for those who sin like thee The penalty of death decree. Now Bharat rules with sovereign sway, And we his royal word obey. There was no hope of pardon, none, For the vile deed that thou hast done, That wisest monarch dooms to die The wretch whose crimes the law defy; And we, chastising those who err, His righteous doom administer. My soul accounts Sugriva dear E'en as my brother Lakshman here. He brings me blessing, and I swore His wife and kingdom to restore: A bond in solemn honour bound When Vanar chieftains stood around. And can a king like me forsake His friend, and plighted promise break? Reflect, O Vanar, on the cause, The sanction of eternal laws, And, justly smitten down, confess Thou diest for thy wickedness. By honour was I bound to lend Assistance to a faithful friend; And thou hast met a righteous fate Thy former sins to expiate. And thus wilt thou some merit win And make atonement for thy sin.

When Bharat's anger-sharpened tongue Reproaches on the queen had flung, Again, with mighty rage possessed, The guilty dame he thus addressed: "Flee, cruel, wicked sinner, flee, Let not this kingdom harbour thee. Thou who hast thrown all right aside, Weep thou for me when I have died. Canst thou one charge against the king, Or the most duteous Rama bring? The one thy sin to death has sent, The other chased to banishment. Our line's destroyer, sin defiled Like one who kills an unborn child, Ne'er with thy lord in heaven to dwell, Thy portion shall be down in hell Because thy hand, that stayed for naught, This awful wickedness has wrought, And ruined him whom all held dear, My bosom too is stirred with fear. My father by thy sin is dead, And Rama to the wood is fled; And of thy deed I bear the stain, And fameless in the world remain. Ambitious, evil-souled, in show My mother, yet my direst foe. My throning ne'er thine eyes shall bless, Thy husband's wicked murderess. Thou art not Asvapati's child, That righteous king most sage and mild, But thou wast born a fiend, a foe My father's house to overthrow. Thou who hast made Kausalya, pure, Gentle, affectionate, endure The loss of him who was her bliss,-- What worlds await thee, Queen, for this? Was it not patent to thy sense That Rama was his friends' defence, Kausalya's own true child most dear, The eldest and his father's peer? Men in the son not only trace The father's figure, form, and face, But in his heart they also find The offspring of the father's mind; And hence, though dear their kinsmen are, To mothers sons are dearer far. There goes an ancient legend how Good Surabhi, the God-loved cow, Saw two of her dear children strain, Drawing a plough and faint with pain. She saw them on the earth outworn, Toiling till noon from early morn, And as she viewed her children's woe, A flood of tears began to flow.

Then when the people wroth and sad Saw Sita in bark vesture clad, Though wedded, like some widowed thing, They cried out, "Shame upon thee, King!" Grieved by their cry and angry look The lord of earth at once forsook All hope in life that still remained, In duty, self, and fame unstained. Ikshvaku's son with burning sighs On Queen Kaikeyi bent his eyes, And said: "But Sita must not flee In garments of a devotee. My holy guide has spoken truth: Unfit is she in tender youth, So gently nurtured, soft and fair, The hardships of the wood to share. How has she sinned, devout and true, The noblest monarch's child, That she should garb of bark indue And journey to the wild? That she should spend her youthful days Amid a hermit band, Like some poor mendicant who strays Sore troubled, through the land? Ah, let the child of Janak throw Her dress of bark aside, And let the royal lady go With royal wealth supplied. Not such the pledge I gave before, Unfit to linger here: The oath, which I the sinner swore Is kept, and leaves her clear. Won from her childlike love this too My instant death would be, As blossoms on the old bamboo Destroy the parent tree.(313) If aught amiss by Rama done Offend thee, O thou wicked one, What least transgression canst thou find In her, thou worst of womankind? What shade of fault in her appears, Whose full soft eye is like the deer's? What canst thou blame in Janak's child, So gentle, modest, true, and mild? Is not one crime complete, that sent My Rama forth to banishment? And wilt thou other sins commit, Thou wicked one, to double it? This is the pledge and oath I swore, What thou besoughtest, and no more, Of Rama--for I heard thee, dame-- When he for consecration came. Now with this limit not content, In hell should be thy punishment, Who fain the Maithil bride wouldst press To clothe her limbs with hermit dress."

If a man commits a sin, let him not do it again; let him not delight in sin: pain is the outcome of evil.

A fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds: but the wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire.

Fools of little understanding have themselves for their greatest enemies, for they do evil deeds which must bear bitter fruits.

2 A happy boon do men elect, a mighty blessing they obtain. 3 If by address, by blame, by imprecation we have committed sin, awake or sleeping, 4 When, Indra, Brahmanaspati, our deeds are wrongful and unjust, 5 We have prevailed this day and won: we are made free from sin and guilt.

2 With mine own heart I commune on the question how Varuna and I may be united. 3 Fain to know this in in I question others: I seek the wise, O Varuna, and ask them. 4 What, Varuna, hath been my chief transgression, ihat thou wouldst slay the friend who sings thy praises 5 Free us from sins committed by our fathers, from those wherein we have ourselves offended. 6 Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction, thoughtlessness, Varuna wine, dice, or anger. 7 Slavelike may I do service to the Bounteous, serve, free from sin, the God inclined to anger. 8 O Lord, O Varuna, may this laudation come close to thed and lie within thy spirit.

2 Indra and Soma, let sin round the wicked boil like as a caldron set amid the flames of fire. 3 Indra and Soma, plunge the wicked in the depth, yea, cast them into darkness that hath no support, 4 Indra and Soma, hurl your deadly crushing bolt down on the wicked fiend from heaven and from the ear 5 Indra and Soma, cast ye downward out of heaven your deadly darts of stone burning with fiery flame, 6 Indra and Soma, let this hymn control you both, even as the girth encompasses two vigorous steeds− 7 In your impetuous manner think ye both thereon: destroy these evil beings, slay the treacherous fiends. 8 Whoso accuses me with words of falsehood when I pursue my way with guileless spirit, 9 Those who destroy, as is their wont, the simple, and with their evil natures barm the righteous, 10 The fiend, O Agni, who designs to injure the essence of our food, kine, steeds, or bodies, 11 May he be swept away, himself and children: may all the three earths press him down beneath them. 12 The prudent finds it easy to distinguish the true and false: their words oppose each other. 13 Never doth Soma aid and guide the wicked or him who falsely claims the Warrior's title. 14 As if I worshipped deities of falsehood, or thought vain thoughts about the Gods, O Agni. 15 So may I die this day if I have harassed any man's life or if I be a demon. 16 May Indra slay him with a mi weapon, and let the vilest ofghty 17 She too who wanders like an owl at night−time, hiding her body in her guile and malice, 18 Spread out, ye Maruts, search among the people: seize ye and grind the Raksasas to pieces, 19 Hurl down from heaven thy bolt of stone, O Indra: sharpen it, Maghavan, made keen by Soma. 20 They fly, the demon dogs, and, bent on mischief, fain would they harm indomitable Indra. 21 Indra hath ever been the fiends' destroyer who spoil oblations of the Gods' invokers: 22 Destroy the fiend shaped like an owl or owlet, destroy him in the form of dog or cuckoo.

i May our rivals depart; With Indra and Agni we overthrow them; The Vasus, the Rudras, the Adityas have made me A dread corrector and overlord, sky reaching. k Hitherward do we summon Indra from thence, Him who is winner of cows, of booty, and winner too of horses; Do thou accept this sacrifice at our invocation; Ally of it we make thee, O lord of the bays. The Horse Sacrifice a Of Agni first I reckon, the wise ones, Him of the five folk whom many kindle; Him who hath entered into every concourse do we implore, May he relieve us from tribulation. b Him whose is that which breatheth, which winketh, which moveth, Whose alone is that which has been born and is being born, Agni I praise; I invoke seeking aid, May he relieve us from tribulation. c Of Indra first I reckon, the wise one; Praise of the slayer of Vrtra hath come to me, He who cometh at the call of the generous doer of good deeds [1], May he relieve us from tribulation. d Him who in might leadeth forth the host for battle, Who commingleth the three possessions; Indra I praise; I invoke seeking aid, May he relieve us from tribulation. e Of you, O Mitra and Varuna, I reckon Take heed of him, O ye of true strength, strong ones, whom ye afflict; Ye who go in might against the king in his chariot, May ye relieve us from sin. f You whose chariot with straight reins, of true path, Approacheth to spoil him who acteth falsely, Mitra and Varuna I praise [2]; I invoke seeking aid, May ye relieve us from sin. g We venerate the ordinances of Vayu and of Savitr, Who support that which hath life and guard it, Who surround all things; May ye relieve us from sin. h The best blessings have come to us In the realm of the two gods; I praise Vayu and Savitr; I invoke seeking aid, May ye relieve us from sin. i Best charioteers of carmen, I hail for aid, That go most smoothly with well-guided steeds; Ye [3] whose might among the gods, O gods, is unextinguished, May ye relieve us from sin.

k What time ye came to the wedding of Surya, Choosing a seat together on the three-wheeled (chariot), I praise you, Açvins, gods, invoke seeking aid, May ye relieve us from sin. l Of the Maruts I reckon; may they aid us; May they all help this every prayer (of ours); The swift, easily controlled (ones) I call to help, May they relieve us from evil. m The sharp weapon, strong and mighty, The divine host [4] keen in the battles, I praise the gods, the Maruts; I invoke seeking aid, May they relieve us from evil. n Of the gods I reckon; may they aid us; May they all help this every prayer; The swift, easily controlled (ones) I call to help, That they may relieve us from evil. o That which now consumeth me From deed of men or gods, I praise the All-gods; I invoke seeking aid, May they free us from evil. p Us to-day Anumati. q O Anumati, thou [5]. r Vaiçvanara for aid to us. s Present in sky. t Those that expanded with unmeasured might, Those that became the supports of wealth, I praise sky and earth; I invoke seeking aid, May ye relieve us from tribulation. u O ye broad firmaments, make room for us; O rulers of the field, aid us; I praise sky and earth; I invoke seeking aid, May ye relieve us from tribulation. v Whatever sin we commit against thee, As men are wont in ignorance, O most young [6], Make us blameless before Aditi, Remove our evil deeds on all sides, O Agni. w Even as ye did set free, O bright ones, O ye that are worthy of offering, the buffalo cow bound by the foot, So do thou remove from us tribulation; Be our life prolonged further, O Agni. THE EXPLANATION OF THE PILING OF THE FIRE ALTAR

“May heaven,” answered Ulysses, “requite to them the wickedness with which they deal high-handedly in another man’s house without any sense of shame.”

“My dear nurse,” said Penelope, “do not exult too confidently over all this. You know how delighted every one would be to see Ulysses come home—more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to both of us; but what you tell me cannot be really true. It is some god who is angry with the suitors for their great wickedness, and has made an end of them; for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end in consequence of their iniquity; Ulysses is dead far away from the Achaean land; he will never return home again.”

The rule of all Three Worlds; then, how much less To seize an earthly kingdom! Killing these Must breed but anguish, Krishna! If they be Guilty, we shall grow guilty by their deaths; Their sins will light on us, if we shall slay Those sons of Dhritirashtra, and our kin; What peace could come of that, O Madhava? For if indeed, blinded by lust and wrath, These cannot see, or will not see, the sin Of kingly lines o'erthrown and kinsmen slain, How should not we, who see, shun such a crime-- We who perceive the guilt and feel the shame-- O thou Delight of Men, Janardana? By overthrow of houses perisheth Their sweet continuous household piety, And-rites neglected, piety extinct-- Enters impiety upon that home; Its women grow unwomaned, whence there spring Mad passions, and the mingling-up of castes, Sending a Hell-ward road that family, And whoso wrought its doom by wicked wrath. Nay, and the souls of honoured ancestors Fall from their place of peace, being bereft Of funeral-cakes and the wan death-water.[FN#1] So teach our holy hymns. Thus, if we slay Kinsfolk and friends for love of earthly power, Ahovat! what an evil fault it were! Better I deem it, if my kinsmen strike, To face them weaponless, and bare my breast To shaft and spear, than answer blow with blow.

Yea! those who learn The threefold Veds, who drink the Soma-wine, Purge sins, pay sacrifice--from Me they earn Passage to Swarga; where the meats divine

And let go those-- Rites and writ duties! Fly to Me alone! Make Me thy single refuge! I will free Thy soul from all its sins! Be of good cheer!

He (the Self) is all-encircling, resplendent, bodiless, spotless, without sinews, pure, untouched by sin, all-seeing, all-knowing, transcendent, self-existent; He has disposed all things duly for eternal years.

He who knows this (wisdom of the Upanishad), having been cleansed of all sin, becomes established in the blissful, eternal and highest abode of Brahman, in the highest abode of Brahman.