Approaching the West — Page 107
A pproaching the West—107 individuals born and raised in different social environments. A Hindu Brahman’s conscience may react differently on intermixing with the members of ‘untouchable’ (shudar) caste, as compared with the consciences of all those who believe in the equality of human beings. Moreover, ‘the voice of reason’ in the head can easily be denied and dismissed by hard-core sinners. Also, there are sociopaths born with perverted consciences! How much the inherited genes play a role in someone becoming a saint or a sinner is yet to be determined! How to develop a sensitive conscience that may make precise moral judgment is a continuous challenge for all those who want to tackle with sin in their specific socio- religious settings. It is a universally accepted principle that the value of a good or a bad action is in the intention. In the Manu code of conduct in Hinduism, if there was a breach of an instruction, a sin was presumed to have taken place. The presence or absence of an evil intention did not determine if the sin was committed or not. Consideration of intention or non- intention was only to decide the degree of severity of the sin and its corresponding punishment. If the sinner was helpless due to insanity, senility, poverty or ill health, the gravity of the guilt was diminished, and punishment was lighter than normal. But there was no clear cut agreement on the mode of treating intentional and accidental sins. Sometimes prayers and mantras were recommended for unintentional guilt, and penances were required for the redemption of intentional violations. At other times, penance was essential for treating unintentional wrongdoing, and penalties were proscribed for intentional transgressions.