Body is Guilty of Sin, Not the Self?

Question: Body is Guilty of Sin, Not the Self?My parents say that sins are done by the body (deham) not the self (dehi or atma) within the body. Their logic is that once the body dies and is burnt or buried all the sins go away, that the self or atma is immortal and pious and thus has no sins on its record. Is this true?Dr. R.S.Answer: No. The Self is Guilty, Not the BodyIf this were true, the murderer could claim that he was not guilty of killing his victim because it was the gun that actually killed the victim, not the murderer. He could claim that the gun should be punished instead of the killer. "Destroy the gun and let me go free because the gun killed the victim, not me." This sort philosophy may be very appealing to the sinful person. But it will not hold up in the court of universal judgment of Yamaraja, the god of death. The body is engaged in sinful activities by the owner of the body. Therefore it is that owner of the body who must be punished for transgressing the laws of God. The death of the body does not bring an end to the sinful karma.Sankarshan Das Adhikari

You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!

Join ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT

Comments

Abhay Naik September 20, 2011 at 8:54am

Pujya Guruji Shri Sankarshan Das Adhikari ji,

loving caransparsha, beg for your kind blessings .I have been following your 'Thought for day' and it has given me great peace of mind and desire to devote my further life to loving devotional service of Sri Krishna under your kind guidance.

Hare Krishna!

This reply was deleted.