Since the dawn of organized religions and societies, the concept of sin has been used to bridle mankind and has been one of the most effective tools in that aspect. There’s much to munch on if one one dives into the history of the concept throughout the globe. But for time being lets look at its modern aspects in the Indian context.

Modern Indian populace considers three things out of many others as the cardinal sins, from which any respectable and cultured individual should stay away viz. smoking, drinking and per-marital sex. Each of these activities demeans and degrades the practitioner from the honorable echelons of the ‘samaj’. However it is a human tendency to be attracted to things proscribed by the society and Indians are no exception. The irony however is that the country was once the pioneer of all these forbidden acts when our ancestors had much more liberal outlook of the world around them.

Before the old world was introduced to tobacco from the new world, cannabis was the chief smoking agent and still remains so in some remote parts of the subcontinent. Indians were also one of the first people to systematize its use. The Atharva Veda mentions it as one of the five sacred plants. Coming to the ‘poison’, the ancient scriptures are replete with the stories of gods and mortals gorging large quantities of ‘Somarasa’, an intoxicating herb which no longer grows in the subcontinent. Other example being the ‘Sura’ a traditional alcoholic beverage whose distillation techniques are mentioned again in the Atharva Veda, and which was also referred by Sushruta the fabled physician as an anesthetic for surgeries. Sex has always been one of the favorite past times of Indians, with the second largest population being a testimony to it. We gave the world its first manual guide to proper sex life with an assortment of different positions. Much of the classical arts and literature are abundant with sexual innuendoes of deep passion.

Yet, despite all the rich history, somehow the folks from the medieval era screwed up things majorly which has continued to this day. Things got branded and so did their usage. The idea of sin became more crystalline than ever as religion gained hold of public psyche. However, as always it also came up with a contingency plan of redemption. ‘Confession’ in Christianity, ‘Tauba’ in Islam, and ‘Prayaschitta’ in Hinduism. These were the soul clearing schemes, which have been one of the best selling ideas ever concocted by the faith corporations. India along with the second largest population also has one of the most religious ones. Thus, it’s no wonder that the country has some of richest religious sites in the world along with some of the polluted holy rivers. In other words, our country is a sin laundry store where you pay to wash yourself clean and get out speck less, again to start afresh. After all, its easy to obtain clean chits from the gods and the judiciary if you proffer them sufficiently.

The Numidian king Jugurtha once mentioned Rome as,”a city for sale and doomed to quick destruction if it should find a buyer.” Things don’t seem to have changed a bit about the wider world even after two thousand years. Everything is for sale, just waiting for right bidder.