Sins committed & their consequences – Shiva Purana

Sins committed & their consequences – Shiva Purana
The chapters 4 to 14 of Section 5, Uma-saṃhita of Shiva Purana discuss about committing sins and their consequences.
Shiva is soul of all living beings. Shiva manifests as Brahma. Viṣhnu and Shiva. It is both three-symbolled and symbol less. There are eight classes of gods. Human beings constitute the ninth. There are five types of lower beings. Thus, there are fourteen types of living beings. All living beings past, present and future originate from Shiva, flourish in him and finally merge into him. All heroic beings, even Vishnu and mighty people, have been overwhelmed by the mighty Kama, born of the mind who has no other helper.

Sins causing their fall into great hells.

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.
4. 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.
5. 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;
6. Those who do not duly cooperate with the preceptor in their sacred rites;
7. 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;
8. Those who eschew Shaiva course of conduct and discipline, those who hate Shiva’s devotees;
9. Those who begin to study or write about Shiva’s knowledge without worshipping;
10. Those who give without justice or justification;
11. Those who listen or recite indiscriminately;
12. Those who sport about covetously;
13. Those who pursue false knowledge or do not have proper rules and regulations;
14. Those who lie down and sleep in dirty uncleaned spots;
15. He who abuses Shiva’s story and knowledge and begins to expatiate on other things;
16. He who does not speak the truth;
17. He who does not make gifts;
18. He who is bodily impure and begins to explain or listen to Shiva’s story in an unclean place;
19. He who begins to listen without worshipping the preceptor;
20. He who does not render service to him or pay heed to his behests with devotion;
21. He who does not support the preceptor’s statement;
22. He who retorts to his preceptor;
23. 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. O excellent sage, these activities are as sinful as censure of Shiva.
24. 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. He who kills a brahmin out of fury, greed, fear or hatred or uses heart-rending taunts becomes the slayer of a brahmin. 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. 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.
25. 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. He who hinders cows when bulls mate with them or brahmins when they seek preceptors is called a brahmin-slayer. 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. 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. 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.
26. 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.
27. These are terrible sins (papa) 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.
28. 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. 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. These are the great sins (maha-papa).

Consequences of Sins –
The sinner has to bear the results of the auspicious and the inauspicious actions. Men who have performed auspicious rites who are of gentle minds, endowed with the quality of compassion, go to Yama’s abode through the gentle entrance at the East. Sinners, habitually performing sinful actions and devoid of charitable nature, pass through the terrible path and enter Yama’s abode (situated at a distance of 11.18 lakh Kms from the Earth) by the southern gate. They have by this time become ghosts. Having thus traversed the path they finally reach the city of the dead with great hardship. They are then ushered into the presence of Yama by the emissaries after due announcement.
Consequences of auspicious actions -
Yama welcomes with pleasure and due honour, all those who had performed auspicious rites in this world. Ascend the celestial aerial chariot and go to heaven to enjoy the pleasures in the company of celestial damsels and fulfil your cherished desires. After enjoying pleasures there, in the end when the merit is exhausted return to this place for reaping the fruit of what little evil you may have committed. They are purified gradually in the fires of hell (naraka). At the end of the seventh nether-world Tala, there are twenty-eight Narakakotis situated in terrible darkness. The great zones of hell (naraka-maṇḍala) are forty hundreds. In the hellish fires, the sinners are roasted and dried up by diverse tortures till their action is exhausted completely.
Men who perform auspicious rites here, whose minds are gentle and who are merciful pass through the terrible path of Yama happily.

1. He who makes gifts of sandals of leather or wood, umbrella, palanquin, lamps, musical instruments, cows, oil for massaging, lamps & foodstuffs, food-stuffs and drinks, water, beds and seats, silver, gold & gems, he goes without wayside tortures.
2. Those who make shady parks or those who plant trees, flower gardens, temples, hermitages of ascetics and Rest houses for the orphans feel as if they play in the house.
3. Worshippers of the gods, fire-god brahmins and their parents go along that path as they please.
4. Those who habitually serve their preceptors go without difficulty. They get ample rest on the way.
5. Of all charitable gifts the gift of food is the greatest. It is pleasing. It gives pleasure immediately. It enhances strength and intellect.
6. The eight gifts are honoured most in the land of the dead viz food, drink, horse, cow, garments, bed, umbrella and seat.
7. A well that abounds in water removes half of the sin of the man who causes it to be dug. Or the digging of lakes is conducive to the advent of fame and attainment of friendship in the abode of the sun but without distressing heat.
8. If a man plants trees in the forests, he enables his ancestors and the successors of his family, to gain redemption. Hence one should plant trees. Trees honour and worship the gods through flowers, the Pitṛs through fruits, and the guests through shade.
9. Truth, the greatest penance (tapas), the greatest sacrifice and the greatest learning. When others sleep, truth is wakeful. Truth is the greatest base, it is truth alone by which the earth is sustained, everything is founded in truth. Penance, sacrifice, merit, the worship of the gods, sages and the Pitṛs, the waters, theVidyas—all these things are established in truth. Truth is sacrifice, penance, charitable gift, mantras, goddess Sarasvati, celibacy and Oṃkara. These are really truth. Men who never utter a lie whether for their own sake, or for other’s sake, or even for their own son’s sake, do go to heaven.
10. Penance is the greatest rite. Fruits are achieved by penance. Those who are engaged in penance incessantly rejoice along with the gods. Heaven, fame and love are achieved through penance. Penance is the means of achievement for all objects. One achieves great things through penance. One attains salvation, knowledge, perfect wisdom, good fortune and beauty by penance. Knowledge, perfect wisdom, health, beauty, good fortune and perpetual happiness are the offshoots of penance.
11. Ten charitable gifts are called great gifts. They shall be given to deserving persons every day. They enable the soul to cross the ocean of worldly existence. The charitable gifts of gold, cow and land are very holy. Tuladanas are highly praised like the gifts of cows. Gifts of lands and of speech are of equal potency and deserve praise. But gifts of speech shall be greater.

An object which is given to brahmins, suppliants and distressed people after performing the Saṃkalpa rites enables the donee to become greatly intelligent.