What’s the biggest SIN in the world?
“Uday, what according to your religion is the biggest sin?” a question from a reader who believes in sin and its punishment.
“As a follower of Sanatan Dharma, I don’t believe in sin,” I said.
“Anything that goes against the will of God or God’s laws as per our Holy book is sin. And you will be punished by God for every sin,” he said.
“Oh, we don’t have any such Holy books or God’s commandments. We don’t have anything similar to commandments or Judgement day – so we don’t have to worry about sins”
“We believe people are basically sinners…,” he said.
“According to our concepts every being is a ‘Punyatma’ (sacred, pure, and divine). Everything in the universe is divine…”
“But you will have equivalent to sin. Any non-virtuous act…”
“Hmmm. Yes, Adharma…”
“I have heard about the word Dharma. Uday, can you explain it?”
“Dharma is one’s duty, responsibility, right, and privilege. It depends upon Varna (profession) and Ashrama (age group or stages of life). Hence our religion is called Varnashrama Dharma. You follow your karma based on your Dharma – that’s all. If your Karma is wrong it becomes Adharma (or bad karma), it will come back to you. There is NO forgiveness and there is no way to repent it…”
“How is it possible without God’s intervention?”
“God is very busy with its Dharma of sustaining the universe. A human being is just a speck among billions of species. I don’t think God has time to sit in the clouds and watch humans with binoculars. So God created an AI or ML program in our DNA – that’s Dharma!”
“All these words are very complicated and complex. I don’t understand how does Karma, Dharma, and Varnashrama work?”
“It is very simple. The small shop owner near your house is in the profession or trade (in Sanskrit this profession is known as Varna). If he goes for combat or battle like a warrior (Kshatriya profession), he can be hurt and bed-ridden forever. Similarly, if a small child kisses an unknown beautiful lady in the public, there is no issue. But what about a Grihastha (Ashram of a grown-up man) trying to kiss an unknown woman in public? The number of his bones will increase and the number of his teeth will decrease.”
“Oh, these are results of bad karma, right. A person has to follow self-discipline based on his profession and age, that’s it, right?”
“Not only that. Dharma also depends upon Desam (location), Kalam (time), Sandarbha (context or circumstances)”
“Uday, how will it depend on location? Humans are all the same everywhere!”
“You can eat a pig in China in public and people will applause you. Try to eat a pig in Saudi Arabia, you will be killed…”
“What about the other two – time and context?”
“Fifty years ago, if you go to a shop and say, “My mouse is not working, I want a new mouse”, people would definitely think you are gone nuts. Today, you can go and tell anyone that my mouse is not working – people would know that it is about the computer mouse…”
“And the third one, Sandarbha…”
“Tell the same sentence in a bachelor’s party…”
“My mouse is not working…Ha Ha…” he laughed aloud. “Yes, every good and bad thing depending upon Varna, Ashrama, Kala, Desa, and Sandharbha. That’s how if we turn Adharmic, the bad karma will automatically hit back…”
“These are very simplistic explanation – but it is much deeper and inter-related than we think…The results of bad karma further depend upon many things.”
“However, I am just curious to know Uday, what’s the biggest sin in the world? Or what’s the biggest Adharma?”
“I don’t know. Personally, I believe that thinking about the past is the biggest sin in the world!”
“Oh, in fact, I believed repenting our bad Karma in the past is the only way to divine…”
“Does it help? Can you go back to the past and rectify what you have done?”
“No..”
“Repenting will provide you a psychological relief and some money to priests, that’s all… I see people waste time thinking about the past – becoming proud, angry, sad, stressed, etc on the happenings in the pat. Emotionally clinging into the past is just a waste of time. The past should merely be a reference point or experience to learn towards self-improvement. If you are emotionally attached to your past, your future is totally gone. BTW, what’s human life expectancy?”
“In our country, it is 80 years,” he said, “and I am 50 now…”
“That means you may have just 30 more years to live. You won’t get an extra second once after your date of death. The only precious thing in our life is time. Should we waste it? If you think about the last moment, you are losing the present moment too from precious time. You won’t get this extra moment anymore in life…”
“You are right Uday…thinking about the past is a waste of time…But how to manage our remaining time without doing any sin?”
“Live a sinless life by following your Dharma. Your first Dharma is towards your body (including mind) which is an ecological system for trillions of living beings…So, if you don’t take care of yourself, you are doing a great Adharma. You have various Dharma roles towards your family, community, country, world, and universe!”
“Again it goes to a confusing state. Can you put it in simple words? How to live, without sin, in the remaining days in life?”
“Remember, you are living a life, which billions are dreaming about. So be happy. Be in the present tense. Be happy, come what may. Happiness ONLY comes from within. There is no other way to get happiness. So create as much happiness as you can from within. Save it. Then share it with your family, community, and whole world…Then you become divine, sinless…”
This message comes from Udaylal Pai’s WhatsApp Broadcast List – articles/blogs/answers. If anyone wants to join the list: (1) Save/add the number “+91-94475-33409” in your phone by creating a new contact (2) Then just send ONLY your name through your WhatsApp: +91-94475-33409. The broadcast will happen ONLY IF the sender’s number is saved in the contact list of the receiver.
