A Very Condensed Explanation of Sin in Hinduism

While the popular notion that there is no concept similar to sin in Hinduism, there is a notion of actions that cannot be rectified or redeemed. Consider that the Christian concept of sin generally includes a violation of action against the Supreme Being or another person, both of which instances requires some form of forgiveness by that Being. This repentance (metanoia in the Greek) is the action of turning from one’s sin at the point in which one is forgiven. In Judaism, the concept of t’shuva operates effectively the same. The actual details of forgiveness are of course distinctive. In Second Temple Judaism, there was public exoneration and private exoneration.

Sin in Hinduism is a bit different, and to appreciate it, one may look at the Bhagavad Gita, since this is one of the more popular, if not the most important, of the religious poetic texts of Hinduism, as it occupies a cluster of passages on praise of Krishna, moral propriety, and the correct exercise of meditation. In the Gita, "sin" may be coordinate to the Sanskrit term paapa. This denotes a “demerit,” something that is marked against one’s eternal account in which both moral and immoral actions co-exist eternally. Two acts of sin most associated with paapa in the Gita are those in which one does not properly perform his sacrifice to the gods and one which does not properly honor his family. Sin is a refusal of order.

The notion of ancestral propriety, family, and generational integrity is so important in Hinduism that it simply cannot be considered secondary to the structure of devotional or ritual Hinduism. The Gita for example chastens the evildoer who neglects his family. To despise family is unpardonable. “Those who destroy family, says Krishna, live in hell (naraka).” In one version of Hinduism, the final age in the four linear stages of Hindu time is known as Kali Yuga. It is a time of moral degeneration and depravity until it undergoes a complete restoration to the Golden Age (the Satya Yuga). One of the marks of the Kali Yuga is the disintegration of the family. In the Gita, Krishna is identified with both Rakshasas (evil spirits) and Yakshas (nature spirits). He is good and evil. There is even permission for the most wicked of men (and here it seems to be suggesting moral impropriety) to find favor with Krishna provided he maintains a transcendental yoga. Whoever summons Krishna under such meditations is aided. Yet despite these promises, the Gita retains the inherent tension between good and evil by rejecting those who neglect the family. For them, there is no refuge, not in Krishna either.

Dishonor is also on the level of sin. For the higher castes, sin can be incurred for NOT fighting and preserving the integrity of the clan. Pacifism does not preserve order if those out of order are seeking the disruption of society. In the Gita, for example, Krishna warns Arjuna, "If you do not fight, people will speak of your dishonor, which is worse than death.”

After ritual Hinduism had its day, bhakti (devotional) Hinduism arose in the late Middle Ages and is still the most important form of Hinduism today, splitting into two forms: one dedicated to Vishnu and the other to Shiva. The shift itself did little to displace the family, which still remained essential to moral order. Hindus may not go to temple en masse these days, but they do maintain the order of the family as tantamount to morality. The family order is a microcosm reflecting the order of society. The caste system is part of that order. Everyone retains his or her proper place. Even the structure of the home is organized according to rules of order, with the men congregating in the front of homes and the women occupying the rear.  This, of course, has created a different societal tension, with many in traditional communities venturing out and away from that order. Abuse by husbands and the diminution of women as well as the continued marginalization of the Shadras caste is well documented.  Those looking to flee for better opportunities incurred the curse of the black sea (kala pani) during British colonialism...an artificial travel ban created by communal elders in an attempt to keep Hindus in country and deterring those who would cross the seas to find different liberties with ritual defilement. And even while those like Gandhi never succeeded in dissolving the caste order, though much more hidden from public scrutiny these days, the changes in caste did not affect the basic prominence of family shared by all castes. The next time you are guilted for not coming to a family function or important family rite of passage, think about your Hindu brethren, where family is not just a fact of life, but a way of life.