Jain Philosophy
Chapter 24 – Päp (Sources of sins)
Chapter 24 – Päp (Sources of sins)
We are always busy doing something good that may be helping others or being bad and causing trouble to others. When we help someone, not only does it bring comfort to that person, but it also brings us comfort by Punya. But when we cause trouble for others, it causes us to suffer too due to Päp (sins). The kinds of activities that cause others to suffer are called sinful activities and they can range in various levels from simply telling a tale to actual killing. Jain scriptures describe eighteen kinds of such activities, which are considered the sources of the sins that lead to bad deeds or Päp. These Päp cause troubles in our current live as well as future lives. Therefore, we should be careful not to carry out any of the following 18 sinful activities, which are interconnected with one another.
Eighteen Sinful Activities:
01 Pranatipat Violence
02 Mrushavada Untruth
03 Adattadana Theft
04 Maithuna Unchaste
05 Parigraha Possessiveness
06 Krodha Anger
07 Mana Arrogance
08 Maya Deceit
09 Lodha Greed
10 Raga Attachment
11 Dvesha Hatred
12 Kalah Quarreling
13 Abhyakhyana Accusation
14 Paishunya Gossip
15 Parparivada Criticism
16 Rati-Arati Liking and disliking
17 Maya-Mrushavada Malice
18 Mithya-Darshan-Shalya Wrong beliefs
- Pränätipät (Violence):
This word is formed by two words. 1) Präna means vitalities of a living being, and 2) Atipäta means to kill or to hurt. Therefore, Pränätipät means to cause suffering or kill any of the vitalities of living beings. This is caused by our physical activities as well as by our harsh words or even by our thoughts. Everybody agrees and understands that physical violence is wrong. Non-vegetarian people do not realize that by eating eggs, chicken, poultry products, fish, seafood, or flesh they cause violence. Hunting or fishing games also cause violence. Name calling and offensive, hateful, bitter or harsh words or sentences cause verbal violence.
Example of mental or verbal violence :
Ramesh is a tall and heavy guy and Anil is a skinny guy. Anil wanted to beat Ramesh for some reason but he cannot beat him physically. So, Anil thinks that he will become a friend of some bully and ask him for help. He also thinks about various other ways to beat Ramesh. During all these thoughts process, even though he does not undertake any physical action, his feelings were to hurt Ramesh so he gets sins (Päp) as if he was hurting Ramesh. Thus mental thoughts affect us the same way as physical or verbal expressions. Thinking is tremendously faster, easier, and has no inhibition factors like actual physical or verbal activity and hence it increases the potential for accumulation of Päp (or even Punya due to good thoughts) much faster and easier.
Some other forms of violence are piercing, crushing, binding, torturing, and overloading animals; starving or not feeding them at proper times, and exploiting laborers. Cosmetics, ivory, silk clothes, or leather articles involve the direct or indirect injury to animals and are reasons for accumulation of sins. One should be careful even while walking, running, or sitting that one does not step on small insects like ants and tiny bugs. We should be careful not to walk on plants or grass because they have life. Taking such care is called “Jatanä” “Upayoga” in Jainism. Therefore, we should be very careful and live a simple peaceful life. This leads one to be compassionate and tolerant of others.
- Mrushäväda:
It is formed of two words. 1) Mrushä means lie, and 2) Väda means to tell or speak. So Mrushäväda means to tell a lie. Common reasons to speak a lie are anger, greed, fear, and deception. Some other kinds of lies are spreading rumors, revealing secrets, writing false documents, or not returni ng to someone things that were given for safekeeping. Besides accumulating Päp, by lying we lose our friends. Therefore, we should not tell lies.
- Adattädäna:
It is formed of two words. 1) Adatta means without permission and 2) Ädäna means to take. To take something without permission of the owner or to steal is known as Adattädäna. To acquire something which does not belong to us by adopting wrong means is also considered stealing. Even if we do not steal directly, but ask or encourage someone else to do so, or receive or buy stolen property, evade taxes, adulterate, keep false weights and measures to deceive people, indulge in smuggling activities, it is considered stealing. Once, we start doing such things, there will be no limit as to how far we would go. Moreover, this habit will bring calamity to other family members as well. Therefore, we should not steal.
- Maithuna:
Maithuna means being unchaste or engaging in sensuous enjoyment. This occurs when we enter in improper sexual activities. In Jainism, there is no place for pre or extra marital sexual relationship because excessive sensual desire brings bad karmas. Even within the bounds of marriage, it is advised to observe restraint. Unnatural gratification, indulging in profuse speech, or excessive passion even for one’s own spouse are considered unchaste. A person who suffers from high desire for lust and sensual pleasures cannot resist temptations and thus indulges in immoral deeds. If there is a control over the urge for material gratification, sexual desire can be restrained.
- Parigraha:
Attachment to worldly possessions is known as ‘Parigraha’. Unlimited possessions and hoarding things beyond a person’s basic needs is considered a sin. This occurs when we try to accumulate more than our needs. We should learn to live happily with what our needs are rather than accumulating more just because we like those things. This is easy to say, but rather hard to follow. We should remember that unnecessary accumulation is the root cause of all unrest and keeps our craving alive for more possessions. Therefore, we should be content and should learn to control our desires.
6. Krodha:
It means anger. Whenever we do not get what we want, we get upset and mad, and depending upon the situation either we throw things, use harsh words or have negative thoughts. When a person is angry, he cannot distinguish between right and wrong or good and bad. To overcome this anger, we should develop tolerance. This way, we can stay calm even if things do not look quite right. If we can achieve that, there will be no place for quarrels around us and we will be able to live peacefully. One should replace anger with forbearance and tolerance.
- Mäna:
It means the ego. Egoism, pride, arrogance, self-admiration, and conceit are all synonymous. The ego means thinking too much of the self. Due to the ego, we tend to look down upon others. Ego can be overcome by cultivating a sense of humbleness.
8. Mäyä:
It means to deceive, cheat, or mislead. Deceit, cunning, and Mäyä are synonymous. When we cheat and succeed in doing so, it leads to ego because we feel proud of what we have done even though it was wrong. When we get caught cheating, then we get into big trouble. So instead of cheating, we should be honest.
- Lobha:
It means greed. When we have enough to meet our needs but we want more for the sake of having it, it is called greed. We should realize that there is no end to our desires. We should not forget that when we do not get what we want, we get angry. We become jealous of someone who may have what we want. To get what we want, we may use all means from buying it to deception, stealing or even killing. Most of the wars between nations are the result of greed of one to take over the other. Therefore, instead of being greedy let us be content and share with others what we have. If everybody does that, then there will be peace and harmony among us.
- Räga:
Räga means attachment. Suppose you went shopping at a clothing store and saw a T-shirt that was cute. You liked it very much and you wanted to buy it. You checked its price tag and it was high. You thought, “Well, I will wait until it goes on sale.” You kept on checking every two to three days to see if it was on sale. Your going back to the store was due to your attachment to the T-shirt. Sometimes this attachment can blind us to get what we want and to do so, we may even use harmful methods. Therefore, we should avoid developing attachments for things. After all that is not the only thing in the whole world. In other words, we should learn to live a life where it is all right whether we get what we like or not.
11. Dvesha:
Dvesha means hatred. Every now and then, we may come across a situation where we do not like something. Most of the time we can ignore that, but sometimes it develops into hatred towards someone. If the hatred is due to the loss of something, then it can turn into anger and may cause harm to others and to us. Hatred brings enmity. Instead, we should develop love and friendship for everybody. Even if someone is cruel to us, we should show compassion.
12. Kalah:
It means to fight or quarrel. Most of the time, when someone does not agree with us, the first thing we do is fight. Many people even fight over a trivial matter. Sometimes, it may seem that we win by fighting, but we lose in the long run. Frustration and anger are a few of the causes for fighting. We should not forget that fighting breaks up even a good friendship. Therefore, we should learn to let go and believe in forgiveness.
- Abhyäkhyäna:
Making false accusations on somebody is called Abhyäkhyäna. Some people cannot accept their losses and blame others for it even when the others are not at fault. When the others find out the truth, they are going to lose trust in these people. Therefore, before accusing anyone, we should ask ourselves, “What is the truth and why am I blaming others without proper evidence ?” No wise person will do this. Therefore, accept the truth and live by that even though sometimes it may not be in our favor.
- Paishunya:
Talking behind someone’s back or spreading rumors are all known as Paishunya. Many people try to look smart by spreading rumors about others. This is a wrong habit that leads to unnecessary friction and quarrels. This takes time away from constructive activities. Instead of indulging in gossip, we should form the habit of appreciating others.
- Parpariväda:
It is formed of two words. 1) Par means the other person and 2) Pariväda means to criticize. Many people do nothing but criticize others. Instead of admiring others, they always find fault instead. If criticism is done with the good intention of improvement, then it is considered positive or constructive criticism, and is welcome. But if the criticism is done to put others down, then it is considered negative criticism and it should be avoided. It creates unnecessary friction, cultivates anger in people, and can lead to unfortunate events.
- Rati-Arati:
Rati means liking, while Arati means disliking. When a friend comes to our house, we like him, but on the other hand if a funny looking stranger comes to our door we dislike him. This liking or disliking seems to be a natural response but we should not forget that they can bring feelings of attachment or hatred in our minds. Even though our expressions may look innocent, we should be careful about them and try to balance them.
- Mäyä-Mrushäväda
Telling a malicious lie is called Mäyä Mrushäväda. Any lie is bad, but when it is done with malice it is worse. Malicious behavior causes nothing but quarrels and friction. Not only should we avoid such habits, but we should stay away from those who have such habits. Instead of being vicious, we should be kind to others.
- Mithyä-Darshan-Shalya
This word is combination of three words. 1) Mithyä means false, 2) Darshan means faith, and 3) Shalya means a thorn. This means to believe in false faith is a thorn. We know thorns never give pleasure, but rather they always hurt. In the same way, keeping faith in a false belief will lead us to nothing but sufferings. False beliefs can start from believing in false teachers, false religions and false gods. False teachers are those who do not believe in the five major vows as prescribed by the Jinas. They Promote violence, lying, stealing, immoral sensual activities, and possessiveness. These activities will bring our downfall. In the same way, false religions will promote teaching opposite of what the Jinas have taught. False religions can promote violence, anger, ego, deceit, and greed. They will nourish attachment and hatred. That will be bad for us. In the same way, a false god would be the one who is tinted with attac hment and hatred. When someone is biased, he cannot give proper advice. But Jinas do not have any attachment or hatred; therefore, they do not expect anything from what they advise. There is no reason for them to give us any advice that will hurt us. They have reached the higher state by following the same path they have shown to us. They have taught us that we are our own saviors, and only we can save ourselves. Thus, we should have faith in the right teachers, the right religion, and the right god if we want to progress in our spiritual journey.
From the discussion we realize that any of these 18 types of sinful activities are harmful. As long as we are living, we are bound to undertake some of these activities, but we should be careful and replace the sinful activities with good activities to minimize harm to our soul. If we have to get involved in sinful activity due to unavoidable circumstances, we should do it with regret and repent for doing such acts and never enjoy doing them.