A few days back, I said something to the [sádhakas] of Bangalore regarding pápa and puńya, but here I have been requested by a boy to [again] say something regarding pápa and puńya, so I am obeying his order.

It has been said that,

Tyaja durjanasaḿsargaḿ bhaja sádhusamágamam;
Kuru puńyamahorátraḿ smara nityamanityatám.

[Avoid association with the wicked and associate with the virtuous. Do good twenty-four hours a day, and remember the eternal.]

Kuru puńyamahorátram [“Do good twenty-four hours a day”].

It has been said, Tyaja durjanasaḿsargaḿ – “You should keep yourself aloof from the sauṋga [or saḿsarga], society, of durjana. You should keep yourself aloof from durjanasauṋga, the society of durjanas.”

What is durjana? Durjana means “he who depraves the mind of others”. Now here durjana is a relative term. A man, Mr. X, may be treated as durjana for Mr. Y, but may not be treated as durjana for Mr. Z. Suppose in Mr. X the good portion, the merit portion, is ten degrees, and the bad portion, the demerit portion, is twelve degrees. Then the resultant is two degrees in favour of demerit: ten degrees merit and twelve degrees demerit, so the resultant goes in favour of demerit. Two degrees demerit is the resultant. Now another man’s merit portion is fifteen degrees, and demerit portion ten degrees. So the resultant five degrees goes in favour of merit. So he has five degrees of merit, and the first man has two degrees of demerit. So when that five-degree merit man comes in contact with that two-degree demerit man, the resultant will go in favour of that five-degree merit man. So that bad man will be modified, rectified. He will become good on coming in contact with that five-degree merit man. So for that five-degree merit man, that two-degree demerit man is not a durjana, because the latter cannot deprave him. But for a man who has just one degree of merit, that two-degree demerit man may deprave him – so for him that two-degree demerit man is a durjana. Clear?

So Tyaja durjanasaḿsargaḿ – “You should keep yourself aloof from durjanas.” Then the question arises⁽¹⁾ how these durjanas are to be rectified. If everybody says, “I won’t come in contact with durjanas,” then how are these durjanas to be rectified? In such a case, you should not contact the person singularly; you along with two or three of your friends should contact him. And those friends should have resultant merit, not resultant demerit.

Suppose you have resultant one degree merit, and a friend has resultant two degrees merit; then the total should be three degrees merit: your one degree and his two degrees. So with these three degrees of merit, you will contact that two-degree demerit person. That person will be rectified. So before your combined strength, that man no longer remains a durjana. But when you are singular, then that man is certainly a durjana for you. Clear?

So Tyaja durjanasaḿsargaḿ bhaja sádhusamágamam [“Avoid association with the wicked and associate with the virtuous”]. He who accelerates the speed of social progress, accelerates the speed of spiritual progress, of other people, is a sádhu.

Bhaja sádhusamágamam [“associate with the virtuous”]. In ancient times, a commercial community [caste] used the title Sádhu. Sádhu → Sahu → Sao. Why? The intention was that by using this word sádhu, this word would work as a remembrancer, just to remind them, “You will have to become a sádhu [virtuous person] and not a cheat. You are not to cheat the public – you are not to do black-marketeering or smuggling – you are a sádhu.” So that commercial population used the title Sádhu. The changed form of Sádhu is Sahu or Sao. In north India you will see this title Sádhu, Sahu, Sao. So bhaja sádhusamágamam – “you should always keep yourself in the company of sádhu people, good people. You should come in contact with sádhu people” – bhaja sádhusamágamam.

And kuru puńyamahorátram – “You should do puńya, ahorátram.” And what is puńyam? What is puńyam and what is pápa?

Kuru puńyamahorátram. First, what is ahorátra? [It is part of] the solar system of Indian astronomy.⁽²⁾ The solar system and the lunar system mean the system calculated according to the movement of moon and the system calculated according to the movement of sun. (In Kerala the calendar is according to the Indian solar system. In Uttar Pradesh it is according to the Indian lunar system. In Maharashtra, the Indian lunar system. In Bengal and Kashmir, the Indian solar system.) So as per the Indian solar system, the solar system of Indian astronomy, the period of twenty-four hours from one sun-rise to another sun-rise is called ahorátra. From sun-rise to sun-set is called dinamána, and from sun-set to sun-rise is called rátrimána. Dinamána plus rátrimána is ahorátra.

So kuru puńyamahorátram – “you will have to do puńya, ahorátra.” What is puńya? Lord Vyasadeva says:

Aśt́ádashapuráńeśu Vyásasya vacanadvayam;
Paropakárah puńyáya pápáya parapiidanam.

[Out of the eighteen Puranas, two sayings of Vyasa are of the essence: puńya (virtue) means doing good to others, and pápa (sin) means doing harm to others.]

“When by your action or thought, by your physical activity or by your ectoplasmic activity, you are helping the collective progress of the society, you are accelerating the progress of the society, you are doing something that is puńyam. And when you, by your mental or physical action, are retarding the collective progress, you are committing something that is pápa.” Do you follow? To go against the collective interest is pápa. To accelerate the speed of collective progress is puńyam.

So pápa is a general term. But pápa has a special meaning also. What is the special meaning? (Now regarding the difference between pápa and puńya, I think it is quite clear.)

Regarding the special meaning of pápa: Pápas are of two kinds. In the social order, there are certain vidhis and certain niśedhas – certain dos and certain don’ts. “You should do this, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this” – these are the dos of society. These dos are called vidhi in Sanskrit. And there are certain don’ts – “Don’t steal, don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this.” These don’ts are called niśedha in Sanskrit.

What if you go against the vidhis, for example, “feed the poor,” “serve the ailing humanity” (these are all vidhis – “Do this” – that is, positive orders⁽³⁾)? For example, if you are to serve ailing persons but you are not serving ailing persons, then you are going against a vidhi. To go against a vidhi is called pratyaváya. If you are not serving a man in distress, then you are committing pratyaváya.

Pratyaváya is a particular nature of pápa. And if you do the don’ts – for example, “Do not steal” is a don’t, it is a niśedha, but you are stealing, you are doing the don’ts – then you are committing pápa. This is the special meaning of pápa. Clear?

Pápa and pratyaváya: two kinds of pápa. The special nature of pápa [is] not to follow the code of niśedha, not to adhere to the code of niśedha.⁽⁴⁾

I think this word is also known here – pátaka. And pátaka is of three kinds: one is pátaka, simple pátaka; another is atipátaka; and the third one is mahápátaka.

To commit an ordinary offence is pátaka. If one can atone for what one did, that is pátaka. Suppose a man steals. Suppose five rupees were stolen. It is pátaka, because after that, if you so desire, you can repay that amount and say, “Oh, please excuse me.” It has been atoned for. Práyashcitta – “atonement”. “Please excuse me, take your money.” This is called pátaka, simple pátaka.

But suppose you have cut [off] the hand of an innocent person, in that case is there any scope for atonement? “Oh, take back your hand” – ? No, no, you cannot atone for what you did. It is an unatonable offence. This unatonable type of offence is called atipátaka. Now, pátaka is atonable, and as soon as atonement is effected, you are a free man. But in the case of atipátaka, the shástras [scriptures] say that he who commits it must sacrifice his life for the entire society, to serve society. He has no right to live in the society. He is to serve society from outside: this is the atonement. This is the prescribed atonement for an atipátakii.

Then the third one is mahápátaka. This mahápátaka is also atipátaka, but the difference is that its effect is of recurring nature. Suppose a corrupt businessman uses papaya seeds [in the black pepper] – he invents a [new kind] of adulteration – papaya seeds. Now other businessmen will learn it from him, and the process will go on in recurring nature. So the particular businessman who invented this art is a mahápátakii. That is, its effect will be of recurring nature. It will go on forever.

The shástra says that the proper atonement for such a mahápátaka is – what? The first thing is that he has got no right to live in society. He must sacrifice his everything for society and serve society from outside. But that is not enough: that is the atonement for an atipátakii. So what should he do? He should invent something new, and that invention should have a recurring nature of effect. Its effect should be of recurring nature. Because his misdeed had its effect of recurring nature, his good deed should also have an effect of recurring nature.

So this last one is mahápátaka.

In Bangalore I narrated one story. The story is from the Cháyá Rámáyańa: In the last stage of the fight between Rama and Ravana, when Ravana was being defeated – Ravana was a bhakta [devotee] of Shiva – he was requesting Shiva, “Oh Lord, save me, I am dying. I am your bhakta, save me, save me.” But Shiva was not helping him. Then Párvatii asked Shiva, “Ravana is our bhakta, is our devotee, please help him.” Then Shiva said, “No, I can’t help him, I want to [help him but I can’t].”

Párvatii said, “Why? You can do anything, anything and everything, why can’t you help him?”

“He is a mahápátaka.”

Then Párvatii said, “No, no, he is an atipátaka. He kidnapped Sita. It is an act of atipátaka, not mahápátaka.”

Shiva said, “No, he is a mahápátaka.”

Párvatii asked, “Oh, why?”

Then Shiva said, “To kidnap Sita was an act of mahápátaka. But he didn’t kidnap Sita as a thief or as a robber. He went in disguise. He went in the form of a sádhu. That is, he created a very bad precedent, and henceforward no kulabadhu, no lady, will pay credence to what a sannyásii⁽⁵⁾ says. They may think: ‘He may be like Ravana; he may also be a thief – like Ravana.’ So he has set a very, very bad example, and it will have a recurring effect on each and every lady of society. So Ravana is a mahápátakii, his action is of recurring effect. So I can’t help him – his only atonement is if he leaves society and sacrifices his all for society.”

So pátaka, atipátaka, mahápátaka – all these three items come within the scope of pápa; and pápa and pratyaváya are two varieties [of pápa in the general sense]. Not to follow vidhi is pratyaváya; and not to follow niśedha is pápa. This is all I have to say.

Footnotes

(1) A word or two here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(2) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(3) A word here was inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(4) Here the author gave a Sanskrit synonym for this special sense of pápa, but that word was not clearly audible on the tape. –Eds.

(5) Literally, “one who has surrendered one’s everything to the Cosmic will” or “one who ensconces oneself in Sat, the unchangeable entity”; a renunciant. –Eds.