What the scriptures say about guilt

• Bhartrihari

  गुणवदगुणवद्वा कुर्वता कार्यजातं परिणतिरवधार्या यत्नतः पण्डितेन । अतिरभसकृतानां कर्मणामाविपत्ते- र्भवति हृदयदाही शल्यतुल्यो विपाकः ॥

  guṇavadaguṇavadvā kurvatā kāryajātaṃ pariṇatiravadhāryā yatnataḥ paṇḍitena | atirabhasakṛtānāṃ karmaṇāmāvipatte- rbhavati hṛdayadāhī śalyatulyo vipākaḥ ||

  Whether a task is good or bad, a wise person should first carefully weigh its outcome. The result of deeds done in great haste burns the heart like a thorn until one's dying day.

  Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam

  Shows the lodged thorn of something done in haste. our reading

• Bhartrihari

  अजानन्दाहात्म्यं पततु शलभस्तीव्रदहने स मीनोऽप्यज्ञानाद्वडिशयुतमश्नातु पिशितम् । विजानन्तोऽप्येते वयमिह विपज्जालजटिलान् न मुञ्चामः कामानहह गहनो मोहमहिमा ॥

  ajānandāhātmyaṃ patatu śalabhastīvradahane sa mīno’pyajñānādvaḍiśayutamaśnātu piśitam | vijānanto’pyete vayamiha vipajjālajaṭilān na muñcāmaḥ kāmānahaha gahano mohamahimā ||

  Let the moth fall into the blazing flame not knowing that it burns; let the fish swallow the bait not knowing the hook. But we, knowing full well, still do not let go of desires tangled in a net of dangers. Ah, how deep is the power of delusion!

  Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam

• Draupadi

  वृष्टिश्चेन्नानुगृह्णीयादनेनास्तत्र कर्षकः / यदन्यः पुरुषः कुर्यात्तत्कृतं सफलं मया तच्चेदं फलमस्माकमपराधो न मे क्वचित् / इति धीरोऽन्ववेक्ष्यैव नात्मानं तत्रगर्हयेत्

  vṛṣṭiścennānugṛhṇīyādanenāstatra karṣakaḥ / yadanyaḥ puruṣaḥ kuryāttatkṛtaṃ saphalaṃ mayā taccedaṃ phalamasmākamaparādho na me kvacit / iti dhīro’nvavekṣyaiva nātmānaṃ tatragarhayet

  If the rain does not favour him, the farmer is not to blame. He tells himself: 'Whatever anyone could have done, I have done.' If the result is still this, the fault is not mine. Seeing this, the wise do not condemn themselves.

  Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Draupadi and Yudhishthira

  Speaks to the one asking whether a failed result was their own doing. our reading

• Narrator

  हृदयँ सोचु समुझत निज करनी। चिंता अमित जाइ नहिं बरनी॥ कृपासिंधु सिव परम अगाधा। प्रगट न कहेउ मोर अपराधा ॥

  hṛdayaṁ socu samujhat nij karanī| ciṃtā amit jāi nahiṃ baranī|| kṛpāsiṃdhu siv param agādhā| pragaṭ na kaheu mor aparādhā ||

  Remembering what she had done, her heart was full of a worry beyond telling. 'Shiva, an ocean of compassion, deep beyond measure, did not speak my fault aloud.'

  Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 54 (chaupai 1)

  Shows her knowing it as her own offence. our reading

• Tulsidas

  फेरति मनहुँ मातु कृत खोरी। चलत भगति बल धीरज धोरी॥ जब समुझत रघुनाथ सुभाऊ। तब पथ परत उताइल पाऊ ॥

  pherati manahuṁ mātu kṛt khorī| calat bhagati bal dhīraj dhorī|| jab samujhat raghunāth subhāū| tab path parat utāil pāū ||

  It was as if his mother's wrong held him back, while the strength of devotion drove him on like a patient ox. Whenever he remembered Raghunath's nature, his feet moved faster on the path.

  Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhya Kand 2.225 (chaupai 3)

  Shows his feet pulled back by a wrong that was not his. our reading

• Bharat

  सोक सनेहँ कि बाल सुभाएँ। आयउँ लाइ रजायसु बाएँ॥ तबहुँ कृपाल हेरि निज ओरा। सबहि भाँति भल मानेउ मोरा ॥

  sok sanehaṁ ki bāl subhāeṁ| āyauṁ lāi rajāyasu bāeṁ|| tabahuṁ kṛpāl heri nij orā| sabahi bhāṁti bhal māneu morā ||

  Whether out of grief, love or childishness, I came here against your will. Even then, kind one, you looked at it from your own side and took everything I did as good.

  Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhya Kand 2.287 (chaupai 1)

  Shows him admitting he came against the order. our reading

• Surdas

  हमारे प्रभु, औगुन चित न धरो । समदरसी है नाम तुम्हारा, सोई पार करौ॥ इक लोहा पूजा में राखत, इक घर बधिक परो। सो दुबिधा पारस नहिं जानत, कंचन करत खरो॥

  hamāre prabhu, augun cit na dharo | samadarasī hai nām tumhārā, soī pār karau|| ik lohā pūjā meṃ rākhat, ik ghar badhik paro| so dubidhā pāras nahiṃ jānat, kaṃcan karat kharo||

  My Lord, do not hold my faults in your mind. Your name is "the one who sees all alike"; live up to it and carry me across. One piece of iron is kept in the shrine for worship, another lies in a butcher's house; the touchstone knows no such difference, and turns both into pure gold.

  Sursagar vinay pada

• Tulsidas

  अबलों नसानी, अब न नसैहौं। राम-कृपा भव-निसा सिरानी, जागे फिरि न डसैहौं॥

  abaloṃ nasānī, ab na nasaihauṃ| rām-kṛpā bhav-nisā sirānī, jāge phiri na ḍasaihauṃ||

  Till now it has been wasted; from now it will not be. By Ram's grace the long night is over. Now that I am awake, I will not spread the bed of sleep again.

  Vinay Patrika

  Depicts the years till now were lost. our reading

• Teacher

  एतꣳह वाव न तपति । किमहꣳसाधु नाकरवम् । किमहं पापमकरवमिति ।

  etaꣳha vāva na tapati | kimahaꣳsādhu nākaravam | kimahaṃ pāpamakaravamiti |

  Such a one is no longer tormented by the thought: why did I not do good? Why did I do wrong?

  Taittiriya Upanishad 2.9.1

• Dasharatha

  तदिदं मेऽनुसम्प्राप्तं देवि दुःखं स्वयंकृतम्। सम्मोहादिह बालेन यथा स्याद् भक्षितं विषम्॥

  tadidaṃ me’nusamprāptaṃ devi duḥkhaṃ svayaṃkṛtam| sammohādiha bālena yathā syād bhakṣitaṃ viṣam||

  This sorrow has come to me, my queen, by my own doing, like a child who swallows poison out of ignorance.

  Valmiki Ramayana · Ayodhya Kanda

• Self upliftmentatma uddhara

  Do not push yourself down or hold yourself in contempt. stated in the text

  Gita 6.5; Draupadi MBh 3.32.58; Vivekananda

• Resolvesaṅkalpa

  Resolve frees from repeating the deed that regret frees from. stated in the text

  Vyadha Gita; MBh Shanti 7; Yoga Vasishtha

• Compassionkaruṇā

  The texts send a voice that lifts the shame: you torment yourself for nothing. stated in the text

  Manas Ayodhya (Bharadwaj, Rama to Bharat)

• Surrenderśaraṇāgati

  Turning from great wrong counts as good because surrender answers self-blame. stated in the text

  Gita 9.30-31; 4.36; Manas

• Five causespancha hetu

  It was never all your doing. stated in the text

  Gita 18.14; MBh 3.32.48

• Krishna

  उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् । आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥

  uddharedātmanā’’tmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet | ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ ||

  Raise yourself by your own self; do not let yourself sink. For the self alone is the friend of the self, and the self alone is the enemy of the self.

  Bhagavad Gita 6.5

  Shows a person being their own friend, not their own prosecutor. our reading

• Dharmavyadha (the righteous meat-seller)

  विकर्मणा तप्यमानः पापाद्विपरिमुच्यते / न तत्कुर्यां पुनरिति द्वितीयात्परिमुच्यते

  vikarmaṇā tapyamānaḥ pāpādviparimucyate / na tatkuryāṃ punariti dvitīyātparimucyate

  One who feels remorse for a wrong deed is freed from that wrong; by resolving 'I will not do it again', he is freed from the second.

  Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vyadha Gita

  Gives remorse a job and an end point. our reading

• Draupadi

  वृष्टिश्चेन्नानुगृह्णीयादनेनास्तत्र कर्षकः / यदन्यः पुरुषः कुर्यात्तत्कृतं सफलं मया तच्चेदं फलमस्माकमपराधो न मे क्वचित् / इति धीरोऽन्ववेक्ष्यैव नात्मानं तत्रगर्हयेत्

  vṛṣṭiścennānugṛhṇīyādanenāstatra karṣakaḥ / yadanyaḥ puruṣaḥ kuryāttatkṛtaṃ saphalaṃ mayā taccedaṃ phalamasmākamaparādho na me kvacit / iti dhīro’nvavekṣyaiva nātmānaṃ tatragarhayet

  If the rain does not favour him, the farmer is not to blame. He tells himself: 'Whatever anyone could have done, I have done.' If the result is still this, the fault is not mine. Seeing this, the wise do not condemn themselves.

  Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Draupadi and Yudhishthira

  Shows separating what was in one's hands from what was not. our reading

• Draupadi

  न त्वेवात्माऽवमन्तव्यः पुरुषेण कदाचन / न ह्यात्मपरिभूतस् भूतिर्भवति शोभना

  na tvevātmā’vamantavyaḥ puruṣeṇa kadācana / na hyātmaparibhūtas bhūtirbhavati śobhanā

  A person should never look down on himself. The one who despises himself never finds real prosperity.

  Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Draupadi and Yudhishthira

  Shows self-reproach blocking every good. our reading

• Tulsidas

  रहति न प्रभु चित चूक किए की। करत सुरति सय बार हिए की॥ जेहिं अघ बधेउ ब्याध जिमि बाली। फिरि सुकंठ सोइ कीन्हि कुचाली ॥

  rahati na prabhu cit cūk kie kī| karat surati say bār hie kī|| jehiṃ agh badheu byādh jimi bālī| phiri sukaṃṭh soi kīnhi kucālī ||

  The Lord does not keep a mistake in his mind; he remembers the heart a hundred times over. The very wrong for which he struck Bali like a hunter, Sugriva later did too.

  Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 1.27 (chaupai 3)

  Remembers the mistake is not what is remembered. our reading

• Bharat

  तेउ सुनि सरन सामुहें आए। सकृत प्रनामु किहें अपनाए॥ देखि दोष कबहुँ न उर आने। सुनि गुन साधु समाज बखाने ॥

  teu suni saran sāmuheṃ āe| sakṛt pranāmu kiheṃ apanāe|| dekhi doṣ kabahuṁ na ur āne| suni gun sādhu samāj bakhāne ||

  Even such people, hearing of you, came before you for shelter, and with a single bow you made them your own. You saw their faults but never kept them in your heart; you heard their virtues and praised them among the good.

  Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhya Kand 286 (chaupai 2)

  Shows faults are seen and not held. our reading

• Vasishtha

  दोषः शाम्यत्यसंदेहं प्राक्तनोऽद्यतनैर्गुणैः । दृष्टान्तोऽत्र ह्यस्तनस्य दोषस्याद्य गुणैः क्षयः ॥

  doṣaḥ śāmyatyasaṃdehaṃ prāktano’dyatanairguṇaiḥ | dṛṣṭānto’tra hyastanasya doṣasyādya guṇaiḥ kṣayaḥ ||

  There is no doubt: past faults are calmed by present virtues. The proof is that yesterday's mistake is undone by today's good deeds.

  Yoga Vasishtha

  Shows a past mistake is not permanent. our reading

• Krishna

  सर्वगुह्यतमं भूयः श्रृणु मे परमं वचः । इष्टोऽसि मे दृढमिति ततो वक्ष्यामि ते हितम् ॥

  sarvaguhyatamaṃ bhūyaḥ śrṛṇu me paramaṃ vacaḥ | iṣṭo’si me dṛḍhamiti tato vakṣyāmi te hitam ||

  Hear once more my highest word, the most secret of all: you are deeply loved by me, and so I will tell you what is good for you.

  Bhagavad Gita 18.64

  Shows the love declared before any condition is set. our reading

• From the Gita

  Restraining desire

  Arjuna asks why we do wrong as if forced. Krishna names desire, which turns into anger, as the enemy that clouds wisdom like smoke over fire, and tells him to master it.

  Desire unmet becomes anger; see it clearly and you can master it.

• From the Poets and saints

  Vairagyashatakam: Censure of craving

  The poet confesses everything he did for money and approval: digging for treasure, flattering kings, forcing laughter. He ends with the famous lines that pleasures consumed us and craving never aged, and hope pictured as a river.

  We think we are chasing things; really, the chase is using up our lives.

• From the Other Gitas

  Tulsidas, the boy who begged for scraps

  Across his later works Tulsidas tells his own story: left by his parents at birth, he wandered door to door for scraps, no job, no trade, no skill, ignored by everyone. Good people told him not to worry; Hanuman raised him like a child; Ram's name, he says, turned a thorny babul into a mango tree. Even when he went astray, he was taken back.

  Where you start is not where you end; you can be taken in from nothing.

• From the Mahabharata

  Vyadha Gita: the butcher who taught a sage

  A proud ascetic, Kaushika, is sent to learn from a meat-seller in Mithila. The butcher teaches him plain goodness: don't return evil, repent and resolve, keep envy away, care for your parents, and don't spend your one life making enemies.

  Wisdom lives in ordinary people doing ordinary work honestly. Care for your parents.

• Joyआनन्दHeals guilt
• CompassionकरुणाHeals guilt
• Resolveसङ्कल्पHeals guilt
• SurrenderशरणागतिHeals guilt
• EgoअहंकारFeeds guilt
• Angerक्रोधFeeds guilt
• ConfusionमोहFeeds guilt

See guilt on the whole map