Symptoms of punya and paap

The root cause of all good and bad experiences of life is the measures of punya (merit) and paap (sin). As per theory of karma, one carries these savings from birth to birth. Punya gets consumed through pleasures whereas paap gets consumed through suffering. So if we want to always experience pleasures or happiness it is important to earn punya.

However it is not in human capacity to measure punya and paap. So how do we know if we are adding to punya or paap. It is through symptoms.

On a very broad level, if the mind is filled with craving for material things – material pleasures, wealth, fame etc. – it indicates the predominance of paap. It is really about state of mind. There is a subtle difference between enjoying material pleasures or being content and being passionate about material pleasures. Saints, from their experiences, advise to put ceiling on material desires, because if one runs behind material desires there can never be an end to it. And they say it is easily possible to put this ceiling if mind is gradually diverted to devotional service to god while performing duties towards family and fulfilling desires.

Punya results from good actions – sukrut - in past and present birth. Though the root cause of all material pleasures of life is punya, at a mental level the absence of craving for material pleasures and liking towards devotion to god indicates real fruition of punya. And so, the absence or reduction in craving for material desires is a symptom of punya.

Since it is not in human capacity to measure punya and paap, it is up to individual to first engage into sincere self-interrogation to recognize symptoms and then take appropriate measures to increase measure of punya.

The easiest way to engage into good actions is to act as per instructions of Guru. However if one does not have access to Guru in physical form, reading stories of saints or chanting the name of god and stotras that glorify god can help in transforming oneself to perform good acts.

Upasana – upa near and asana seat. Continuous effort of focusing mind on higher goals of life is the upasana. The life becomes worthwhile when time is spent in achieving higher goals of life. Saints are the people who can guide us in this journey and so it is very beneficial to establish good relationship with saints and engage into work started by them for example supporting construction and operation of temples and charitable hospitals etc. The beauty of such engagement is that it helps in all – fulfillment of material desires, reduction of craving for such desires and achievement of higher goal.