The following excerpt is from the book Aavarana by S. L. Bhyrappa (originally written in Kannada).
"A sin, a crime has two forms of punishment. The first is what is given by an assembly...like...like a court. That is the external punishment. The second is the inner punishment - where the sinner punishes himself with full awareness of the sin he has committed. This is called atonement and it's done for self-purification. In ancient times, both forms were done together. In many cases, the assembly wouldn't take note of certain kinds of sins but the sinner would voluntarily atone for even such sins.
Atonement is two kinds: the first involves the sinner realizing - body, mind, and soul - that what he did was wrong and the second involves him taking a vow to never commit it again and then punishing himself.
Wrongdoings too, are classified into two types: those done in public and those done in secret. Atonement for crimes committed in secret can be performed secretly. It isn't mandatory to tell someone. Atonement for sins done in public should be publicly performed. In other words, the world should know why he is atoning. However, atonement doesn't erase the consequences of the crime. The only purpose of repentance is the purification of mind. The world recognizes in a way, that the sinner is genuinely repentant."
"A sin is classified into two forms from another perspective: wilful and non-wilful. Wilful is where the person knowingly inflicts an evil act. Such wrongdoings attract the severest punishment."
"If pride prevents him from doing all this (atonement), then it's not repentance because repentance is a penance, the goal of which is to burn pride."
It is interesting to know how lucidly the system of crimes, punishments, and atonement is described above. In the following illustration, I have tried to present the above concept in a concise fashion.
*atonement consists of three parts: apologize for the crime committed, vow to not commit it again, and put oneself through a punishment by self. For public crimes, all three have to happen in public.
#The severity of punishment increases with the severity of the crime. Wilful crimes are more severe than non-wilful crimes.
"A sin, a crime has two forms of punishment. The first is what is given by an assembly...like...like a court. That is the external punishment. The second is the inner punishment - where the sinner punishes himself with full awareness of the sin he has committed. This is called atonement and it's done for self-purification. In ancient times, both forms were done together. In many cases, the assembly wouldn't take note of certain kinds of sins but the sinner would voluntarily atone for even such sins.
Atonement is two kinds: the first involves the sinner realizing - body, mind, and soul - that what he did was wrong and the second involves him taking a vow to never commit it again and then punishing himself.
Wrongdoings too, are classified into two types: those done in public and those done in secret. Atonement for crimes committed in secret can be performed secretly. It isn't mandatory to tell someone. Atonement for sins done in public should be publicly performed. In other words, the world should know why he is atoning. However, atonement doesn't erase the consequences of the crime. The only purpose of repentance is the purification of mind. The world recognizes in a way, that the sinner is genuinely repentant."
"A sin is classified into two forms from another perspective: wilful and non-wilful. Wilful is where the person knowingly inflicts an evil act. Such wrongdoings attract the severest punishment."
"If pride prevents him from doing all this (atonement), then it's not repentance because repentance is a penance, the goal of which is to burn pride."
It is interesting to know how lucidly the system of crimes, punishments, and atonement is described above. In the following illustration, I have tried to present the above concept in a concise fashion.
Crime
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Public
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Private
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||
Punishment
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External
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Public
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-NA-
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Internal (atonement)*
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Public
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Private
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|
*atonement consists of three parts: apologize for the crime committed, vow to not commit it again, and put oneself through a punishment by self. For public crimes, all three have to happen in public.
Crime
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||
Wilful
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Non-Wilful
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Punishment
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Severe#
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Less
severe
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#The severity of punishment increases with the severity of the crime. Wilful crimes are more severe than non-wilful crimes.
