Sins and vices: their enumerations and specifications in the Veda

Abstract

In the Christian tradition seven cardinal sins are mentioned: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth. They mainly denote defects or faults in the human character rather than specific, committed sins, which may form their specific manifestations in practice. It is remarkable that several of these items are also found in the Vedic material.1 Here we also find lists of rather specific faults. Moreover some lists contain combinations of evil traits (i.e. vices or sins) and evils which may overcome a human being during his lifetime and which are beyond his own responsibility. In the post-Vedic text Manu 7, 45 ff. the vices or passions called vyasanāni are arranged in two groups based on their origin in lust and anger, two well-known terms of the list of seven cardinal sins. Some of the lists combine cardinal sins with specific vices. Four other types of Christian sins are found in the Bible in its Decalogue: killing, stealing, adultery and lying, i.e. specifications of committed faults. A partial parallelism is found in Vedic culture.2 In the following sections I will treat the relevant passages dealing with the cardinal sins (I-VII) and with the major sins (VIII-X).

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