14
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 1]
counteract sinful activities. In Christianity also there is a process of confession and atonement. Therefore atonement is required, and atonement must be undergone according to the gravity of one's sinful acts.
TEXT 9
श्री राजोवाच
दृष्टश्रुताभ्यां यत्पापं जानन्नप्यात्मनोऽहितम् ।
करोति भूयो विवशः प्रायश्चित्तमथो कथम् ॥ ९ ॥
śrī-rājovāca
dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyām yat pāpam
jānann apy ātmano 'hitam
karoti bhūyo vivaśaḥ
prāyaścittam atho katham
śrī-rājā uvāca—Parikṣit Mahārāja replied; dṛṣṭa—by seeing; śrutābhyām—also by hearing (from the scriptures or lawbooks); yat—since; pāpam—sinful, criminal action; jānan—knowing; api—although; ātmanaḥ—of his self; ahitam—injurious; karoti—he acts; bhūyaḥ—again and again; vivaśaḥ—unable to control himself; prāyaścittam—atonement; atho—therefore; katham—what is the value of.
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Parikṣit said: One may know that sinful activity is injurious for him because he actually sees that a criminal is punished by the government and rebuked by people in general and because he hears from scriptures and learned scholars that one is thrown into hellish conditions in the next life for committing sinful acts. Nevertheless, in spite of such knowledge, one is forced to commit sins again and again, even after performing acts of atonement. Therefore, what is the value of such atonement?
PURPORT
In some religious sects a sinful man goes to a priest to confess his sinful acts and pay a fine, but then he again commits the same sins and