Paap (Sins) – Shiva Purana & Manu Smriti

Punya and Paap are the seeds of future pleasure and pain, the former, which sows merits, exhausts itself only through pleasure and the latter, which sows demerits, exhausts itself only through pain; but liberation from rebirth is the end of all karmic debts consisting of and signified by these two dynamics.
In the chapter 5 & 6 in Section 5 of Uma-saṃhita of Shiva Purana and in discourse 11, section – 6 of Manu Smriti, different types of sins are enumerated.
There are twelve types of Maha-Paap:

1. Pondering over other men’s wives and wealth, wishing for the ill of others mentally, conception of various evil actions and ardent longing for various mean acts, these are the four types of mental activity.
2. Unconnected jabber, untruthful utterance, displeasing words and backbiting, these are the four types of verbal activity.
3. Eating forbidden food, violence, wild goose chase and pilfering of other’s property, these are the four types of physical activity.

The following too are great sins:
The following six are the great sins attended with endless evil results, viz: —censure of Shiva, censure of the preceptor, censure of Shiva’s perfect knowledge, misappropriation of the wealth of the lord, destruction of the wealth of brahmins and the foolish stealing of the sacred text of Shiva’s perfect knowledge.

Those who do not take delight on seeing a well-arranged worship of Shiva, who do not bow to or eulogise it on seeing his phallic image that is worshipped, those who do not scrub, clean and sanctify the spot of worship during festival days; those who do not duly cooperate with the preceptor in their sacred rites; those who misbehave as they please, play about mischievously and do not render service in front of Shiva or in the presence of the preceptor; those who eschew Parvati course of conduct and discipline, those who hate Shiva’s devotees; those who begin to study or write about Shiva’s knowledge without worshipping; those who give without justice or justification; those who listen or recite indiscriminately; those who sport about covetously; those who pursue false knowledge or do not have proper rules and regulations; those who lie down and sleep in dirty uncleaned spots; he who abuses Śiva’s story and knowledge and begins to expatiate on other things; he who does not speak the truth; he who does not make gifts; he who is bodily impure and begins to explain or listen to Shiva’s story in an unclean place; he who begins to listen without worshipping the preceptor; he who does not render service to him or pay heed to his behests with devotion; he who does not support the preceptor’s statement; he who retorts to his preceptor; he who conveniently ignores the most difficult task of his preceptor; he who deserts his preceptor when he is in distress, or when he is unable to maintain the disciple, or when he has gone abroad or when he is attacked by enemies; he who treats with contempt the teacher of virtuous activities and ability to discourse; he who disrespects the teacher’s wife, son or friends.
The murderer of a brahmin, the addict to wine, the habitual thief, the defiler of the preceptor’s bed and he who associates with these is the great sinner fifth in all.

1. Murderer of Brahmin:
   1. He who kills a brahmin out of fury, greed, fear or hatred or uses heart-rending taunts becomes the slayer of a brahmin.
   2. He who invite? a brahmin and makes him some gift but later on takes it back and criticises him and rebukes him without any fault is the slayer of a brahmin.
   3. He who, being arrogant of his gift of learning, puts to shame any good brahmin keeping silence and indifferent in the assembly is also a brahmin-slayer.
   4. He who pretends to have the qualities he does not have and gains recognition for the same and he who conceals his bad attributes is a brahmin-slayer.
   5. He who hinders cows when bulls mate with them or brahmins when they seek preceptors is called a brahmin-slayer.
   6. He who forcibly occupies the land given in support of the temples, brahmins or cows, though the lease might have lapsed due to efflux of time, is called a brahmin-slayer.
   7. The misappropriation of the wealth of the deity or a brahmin and wealth earned through injustice js no less than the sin of slaying a brahmin undoubtedly.
   8. These are terrible sins (paapa) like the murder of a brahmin — abandonment of parents, perjury, lying to brahmins, flesh-eating in regard to the devotees of Shiva, eating forbidden food, killing of innocent living beings in the forest, failure to use for charitable purpose the funds left by good men for the sake of brahmins and committing of arson in the forest or village or in the pathway of cows.
2. Drinking of Wine:
   1. If a brahmin learns the Vedas and acquires knowledge of Brahman and Shiva, but eschews it later on he commits a sin equal to that of drinking wine.
   2. The abandonment of sacred rites, worships and the five daily sacrifices, after performing the same for some time is attended with a sin equal to that of the drinking wine.
3. The following sins are equal to the theft of gold — The forfeiture of the entire property of a poor man; the selling of these by a brahmin knowingly done except in a grave emergency—man, woman, elephant, horse, cow, land, silver, cloth, medicinal herbs, juices (or quicksilver) sandal paste, Aguru, camphor, musk, silk garments etc. and misappropriation of deposits kept in trust.
4. The following are sins on a par with that of defiling teacher’s bed—the non-disposal of marriageable daughters by giving them in marriage to deserving hushands, having sexual intercourse with the wives of sons and friends or with the sisters, raping virgins; cohabitation with an intoxicated woman or a woman of one’s own caste.

Following are the Minor Sins:

1. Removal of a brahmin’s money, transgressor of the rules of inheritance, too much of arrogance, great fury, false prestige, ingratitude.
2. Debauchery, miserliness, malice towards good men illicit approach to another man’s wife, defiling the virgins of good men.
3. Parivitti (the elder brother who is not married but who has allowed the younger brother to marry); Parivettṛ (the younger brother who marries thus); Giving daughters to these two or allowing them to officiate in sacrifices.
4. The spoilation of flowers and trees around the temple of Shiva; even the slightest injury to the people in the hermitage.
5. The theft of cattle, grain, wealth etc. of the family of servants, theft of base metals, food-grains and milch cattle, dirtying of waters.
6. Selling of sacrificial parks and ponds, wives and children, pilgrimages and fasts, sacred rites and investiture with sacred thread.
7. Dependence on dowry, servitude to women, nonprotection of the womenfolk, carrying on affairs with women through fraudulent means.
8. Non-return of time-barred debts, taking grain as interest, acceptance of monetary gift from a despicable person, deceitful life through merchandise.
9. Using bullock constantly as a vehicle through wild jungles, exorcising and Abhicāra (black magic) acceptance of grains as gift, working as a physician.
10. Engagement in sacred rites to satisfy the palate or the sexual urge, teaching only the text of the Vedas (not the meaning).
11. Eschewing of Brahma and other Vratas and adoption of the modes and customs, learning of spurious holy lore, engagement in hair-splitting arguments.
12. Censuring gods, fire-god, preceptors and virtuous men openly and the kings and his officers indirectly.
13. Those who have ceased to perform sacrifices to the gods and the manes, those who have abandoned their duties and rites, persons of evil conduct, atheists, sinners, and habitual liars.
14. He who indulges in sexual intercourse during new moon and Full moon days during day time, or in the vaginal passages of animals, or through other passages or emits semen in water, or cohabits with a woman in her monthly course.
15. Those who shatter the hopes of obtaining wives, sons and friends; those who speak displeasing words; ruthless persons and those who break agreements.
16. Those who damage or demolish lakes, wells or water causeways; he who serves different kinds of food among persons sitting in the same row.
17. Those who cause injury to cows, brahmins, virgins, master, friends or ascetics are sure to go to hell.
18. Those who undergo agony due to another man’s wife; those who have an eye on another man’s wealth; those who steal that and those who make use of false weights.
19. Those who cause misery to brahmins by means of kicks and blows; the brahmins who serve Shudra women and drink wine due to passion.
20. Those who are cruel and engaged in sinful acts; those who are fond of violence and those who perform Dana, Yajna and other rites as a profession for livelihood.
21. Those who evacuate their bowels in cowpens, streets, near water and fire, shades of trees, mountains, parks and temples.
22. Those who are engaged in drinking bouts in hermitages and palaces; those who are in search of weak points in others; those who are in association with others.
23. Those who block roads by means of bamboos, bricks, logs of wood, horns or poles and those who violate the boundaries of others’ fields.
24. Those who make counterfeit documents, those who are engaged in fraudulent activities, those who indulge in fraud in dealing in food and clothing and in law suits.
25. The maker, buyer and seller of bows, weapons and darts, he who is merciless to servants and he who ill-treats animals.
26. He who listens slowly to the words of liars, who is traitor to masters, friends and teachers, a cheat, a fickle-minded and a rogue
27. Those who leave their wives, sons, friends, children, the aged, lean and sick persons, servants, guests and kinsmen hungry but take food themselves.
28. He who sumptuously feeds himself on delicacies but does not give anything to brahmins, shall be known as Vṛthāpāka (a man of fruitless cooking). He is despised by those who propound Brahman.
29. Those who voluntarily decide to perform certain rites with self-imposed checks and restraints but leave them off because they have not conquered their sense-organs; those who renounce but again come back to householder’s life; breakers of the idols of Shiva.
30. Cruel persons who beat cows and bulls; suppress them; do not feed them properly and let them alone weak and feeble.
31. Those who ill-treat bullocks with weighty burden; those who make them draw heavily-laden carts; those who do not let them off free for leisure.
32. Those who do not rear cows and bullocks properly, let them starve; ill treat them with heavy burdens; do not treat their wounds and bruises are called the killers of cows. They are sure to fall into hell.
33. The most sinful persons who castrate bulls by squeezing out their scrotum and those who make heifers draw carts are great sinners sure to fall into hell.
34. Those fools who do not take pity oft guests, helpless persons, independent casual guests, children, old men, emaciated and sick persons overwhelmed by hunger, thirst and weariness and desirous of food surely go to hell.
35. The assets of a man take leave of him at the house itself as the kinsmen do at the cremation ground but his merits and sins follow wherever he goes.
36. The base brahmin who rears goats, sheep and buffaloes and who marries a Śūdra woman and who lives on fishing etc. is a Śudra. If he follows the occupation of a Kṣattriya he is sure to go to hell.
37. Sculptors, blacksmiths, physicians, goldsmiths and royal pretenders and deceitful servants are sure to go to hell.
38. The king who imposes improper taxes out of his own will and takes undue delight in punishment is tortured in hell.
39. The king whose subjects are harassed in the following way is tortured in hell. The way they are harassed may be due to bribery, favouritism of the officers and robbery.
40. There is no doubt that the brahmins who take monetary gifts from an unjust king fall into terrible hells.
41. The king who confiscates the properties of brahmins unjustly and passes them on to others certainly falls into hell.
42. Sin accrues to the fierce robbers ānd to those cohabiting with other men’s wives. It accrues to the king who indulges in amorous sports with other’s women.
43. If the king does not discriminate between a nonthief and a thief and kills the wrong person he is sure to fall in hell.
44. If people steal even a small quantity of these things they will fall into hell—ghee, oil, food and drink, honey, flesh, wine, toddy, jaggery, sugarcane, vegetables, milk, curds, roots, fruits, grass, firewood, leaves, flowers, medicine, shoes, umbrella, cart, seat, water-pot, copper, tin, lead, weapon, conch, and aquatic products, medicinal concoctions, bamboo, household articles, etc. Those who steal coarse or fine clothes out of greed fall into hell.
45. There are other similar things the stealing of which even in small quantities causes fall into hell.

At the behest of Yama, the sinners go to the world of Yama in their bodies, which are dragged by Yama’s terrible emissaries and are subjected to grief. If the action is by oneself or through one’s incitement or instigation or if it is applauded by one later, physically, mentally or verbally he reaps the fruit of the sin.
Paap listed in Manu Smriti -

1. Lying for self-aggrandisement, calumniating before the king, and falsely harassing the Preceptor are equal to ‘Brahmaṇa -killing.
2. Stealing of a deposit, or of men, horse, silver, land, diamonds and other gems, —all this has been declared to be equal to the ‘stealing of gold.
3. Carnal intercourse with one’s uterine sister, or with virgins, or with low-born women, or with the women of one’s friend or son, —all this they regard as equal to the ‘violating of the Preceptor’s bed.
4. Killing a cow, sacrificing for one unworthy to sacrifice, adultery, selling oneself, abandoning one’s father, mother, teacher, or son, or of Vedic study or Fire.
5. Apostacy, abandoning a relative, teaching for wages, learning from a paid teacher and the selling of what should not be sold.
6. Superintending all mines, executing large mechanical works, destroying medicinal herbs, subsisting on women, performing malevolent rites and sorcery.
7. Cutting down green trees for purposes of fuel, the undertaking of the act (of cooking) for one’s own benefit and the eating of forbidden food.
8. Omission of fire-laying, theft, non-payment of debts, studying bad books, and the practising of the histrionic art.
9. Stealing grain, base metals and cattle, —intercourse with women addicted to drinking wine, —killing women, Shudras, Vaishyas and Kṣhatriyas,—and heresy,—every one of these is a ‘minor offence.
10. Causing pain to a Brahmaṇa, —smelling at things that should not be smelt, or at wine, —cheating—and sexual intercourse with a man, —all this is declared to lead to loss of caste.
11. The killing of an ass, of a horse, of a camel, of a deer, of an elephant, of a goat, of a sheep, of fish, of a snake, and of a buffalo should be regarded as degrading the man to the rank of a ‘mixed caste.’
12. Accepting gifts from despicable persons, trading, serving Shudras and the telling of a lie should be regarded as rendering one unworthy of receiving gifts.
13. The killing of insects, worms and birds, —the eating of things touched by wine, —the stealing of fruits, fuel or flowers—and inconstancy—are conducive to impurity.