If we are to hate the sin aren’t we to be averse to sin?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
The Bhagavad Gita tells us that we should be free from attachment and aversion.
And yet we see that we are also told hate the sin, not the sinner, but we are told to hate the sin. So should we or should we not be averse to sin? You’ll see that Yamunacharya, it is said that he his lips curl in distaste when he thinks of sex. So doesn’t that also mean that there is aversion to it? Answer, not exactly.
If you understand what is the reason and what is the object of the emotions involved. Basically, if you understand that we are parts of Krishna and are meant to love Krishna, then we focus our emotions, emotional energy wholeheartedly in directing our love towards Krishna. Krishna talks about this twice in the Bhagavad Gita.
In 10.8, he says that आहम् सर्वस्यप्रभोमत्तः सर्वं प्रवर्तते इतिमत्वाभजन्तेमाम् बुधा भावसमन्मिता With the emotions of the heart, which a person becomes devoted to. In 15.19 also, he says that यो मामिव असमूर्हो जानाति पुरुष्योत्तमं सर्वविद् भजतिमाम् सर्वभावेन भारत सर्वभावेन भारत Those who understand Krishna to be the supreme person, they become devoted to him with all the emotions of their heart. That means they have no emotional energy left to be wasted on emotions with respect to things of this world.
They feel their emotional energy is giving such rich fulfillment when it is being directed towards Krishna that why should we spend on anything at all? Anything else at all? So in that sense, they are free from both attachment and aversion to this world. So, similarly for us, when we want to become bhakti sadhakas, at that time it is best if we could invest our emotional energy as much as possible in Krishna. Attachment, we can easily understand it distracts us from Krishna because we start thinking about the object of attachment, hoping to get it and to enjoy it.
But aversion can be equally distracting because it too can consume our attention and emotion and misdirected away from Krishna, say we are very averse to some person, we go to the temple and we want to avoid meeting that person. Then, while staying in the temple, we will not be thinking about Krishna and focusing on Krishna, we will be thinking about avoiding that person. And then how much Krishna consciousness will we have? So basically, if you understand that our emotional energy is a precious asset, which can give us rich rewards if it is directed towards Krishna, then we won’t want to waste any of this emotional energy on anything else, either by the channel of attachment or the channel of aversion.
If he says water is flowing in a particular direction, then we want the water to reach the destination. And there might be one channel in the left, one channel towards the left. Both of them may be leakages from our perspective, and we’ll try to avoid both.
So attachment and aversion, we could say are two leakages for our emotional energy in its journey towards Krishna. And we want to avoid both. Now, when it is said hate the sin, not the sinner, first point is that the thrust of the verses, thrust of the statement is that don’t hate the sinner.
The first half is not as important as the second half. So don’t hate the sinner, that is the emphasis of this point. And again, that is related with avoiding aversion.
Now, as far as hating the sin is concerned, what does it mean exactly? It basically means that we work to rectify it in ourselves and in others. And the best way to rectify it would be by directing, by helping them direct their emotional energy towards Krishna. And by ourselves setting an example of how our emotional energy is directed towards Krishna, by which we won’t be misdirected elsewhere in our emotional energy.
So even the most effective way of uprooting sin is by directing our emotional energy towards the all-attractive Lord. And when we say the verse, यदावधि बतिनारी संगमे स्पर्यमाने भवती मुखमकार शुष्टु निष्टीवनम्जु Nirmala Acharya says, when I think of sex life, I lap-scurl in distaste and I spit at the thought. What exactly is he doing? If you understand, prior to that he is saying that, नम्दर सिदामन्य उद्धितं रंतुमासीत that I’m experiencing new, new mellows in my remembrance of Krishna, in my absorption in Krishna, and therefore I do not want any distraction from that.
If you understand this point, then we would also get the question, why would such a person want to let their emotional energy be wasted in being averse to something which really doesn’t have much value? So there, for a pure devotee, all their emotions are in relationship with Krishna. So we could say that he’s seeing this simply as a distraction from Krishna, and because it is so unworthy, the pleasure from it is so insignificant, and as compared to the high level pleasure of Krishna Bhakti, this pleasure is such a lower level, that one feels just that it’s pathetic. So it’s not so much aversion as it is dismay.
Why would anyone get distracted by that? Why did I spend so many lifetimes, or so much time in the past, being distracted by that? So it’s not aversion in the sense that the attention is not focused on that, which is what happens in aversion. It is just that if the thought comes in somehow or the other, then there is no inclination to indulge in that thought. So we could even say that this could be a rasa in relationship with Krishna.
There is a rasa of ghastliness, when one thinks that something is so terrible, and one experiences emotions, but the emotions are in relationship with Krishna. So it could well be that, as compared to the pleasure of Krishna Bhakti, this was such a terrible waste of time. And in that sense, it’s not an emotion of aversion towards sensuality.
It is more an emotion of ghastliness in considering what a terrible waste of energy and time it is to indulge, to seek such a low-level pleasure, when so much better is available in relationship with Krishna. So essentially, we just don’t want to waste our emotional energy in anything other than Krishna. And because aversion can suck our emotional energy, we avoid aversion.
And then I said, hate the sin. The ultimate sin is not just papa in terms of wrongdoing. The ultimate, the foundational sin is actually forgetfulness of Krishna, distraction from Krishna.
So what we are averse to is not a particular wrongdoing in the material world, but the generic wrong of being distracted from Krishna. And the way to cure that is not by being averse to the world, but by becoming intense in our devotion to Krishna.