How can I know if something is a sin?
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Question, how can I know if something is a sin? Answer, through scripture.
We live in a world where all our necessities are provided for by God. Food, water, air, light, energy. These are provided through the universe.
We may have to work and provide make secondary arrangements, but essentially they are provided primarily by God through the arrangement of universe. Similarly, God has also provided us knowledge. Knowledge of how to live and what to live for.
So, that knowledge comes through scripture. So, by scripture, we can understand what is to be done and what is not to be done. Tasmād śāstram pramāṇam te kāryā kārya vyavasthitau.
Yātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṁ karma-karta-mihārasi. In the Bhagavad Gita, 16.24, Krishna says that, Tasmād śāstram pramāṇam te, therefore by śāstra, one can know what is to be done and what is not to be done. And in that way, one can live steadily in one’s life.
So, now from scripture in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which is a very important scripture, we understand that there are four primary activities which are considered to be especially sinful. They are meat-eating, intoxication, gambling and illicit sex. These activities harm us and harm others.
And they violate the spirit and letter of scripture. Apart from these also, there are a variety of activities which are sinful and we can understand that from scripture in general. But the important principle is not that we live a life paranoid thinking what is sinful and what I should avoid.
We live life more positively thinking of what we can do and what we should do. The purpose of scripture is not to scare us into avoiding sin. It is to impel us towards love and towards the joy of pure love.
So, when we learn to purify our hearts and love God, then naturally we will act selflessly. And through that selfless action, we will get great happiness. And by that, we will automatically become free from sin.
So, we study scripture primarily to learn how to love God and how to love all living beings in relationship with God and to act according to that love. And by that automatically, sin will be given up. We will go far away from sin.
Krishna tells Arjuna that you are anagha. Anagha means beyond sin. And by studying the Bhagavad Gita and by living the Bhagavad Gita, we all can also become anagha.