DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52538#0036
26
Thoreau, too, held the doctrine of original sinlessness :
1 ‘ How careful we must be to keep the crystal well we are
made clear ! ” * * * §
He holds the true self to be absolutely incapable of sin
and not responsible for the deeds of the unreal, worldly self:
“ A great soul will not consider its sins as its own, but be
more absorbed in the prospect of that valor and virtue for the
future which is more properly itself than in these improper ac-
tions which, by being sins, discover themselves to be not itself." f
An interesting passage in the Zenda Vesta forms a par-
allel to this:
“ All good thoughts, words and works are done know-
ingly ; all bad thoughts, words and actions are not done know-
ingly. ” t
d. Sin.
This, then, is the meaning and significance of sin. As
the king’s son in the far country forgot his origin and consid-
ered himself merely a barbarian, man’s soul in the world has
lost sight of its original Oneness with the Divine. This is
the Vedic conception of sin :
“ Ihr kenut ihn nicht der diese Welt gemacht hat; ein
andere schob sich zwischen ezcch und ihm. ” §
The Vishnu Purana explains the advent of sin in the
world thus :
“ ... After awhile . . . that portion of Hari
which has been described as Kala (Time) infused into created
beings sin." ||
Thoreau’s definition of sin is in the same strain :
“ Sin, I am sure, is not in overt acts nor indeed in acts of
* Autumn, p. 153.
t Winter, p. 144.
f Zenda Vesta, Vol. Ill, p. 19.
§ Rig-Veda, 10, 31. Deussen, p. 139. “Ye know not Him who has
made this world ; another shoved himself between you and Him.’’
|| Vishnu Purana, p. 45 ; cf. also, p. 47. Thoreau uses the same word,
“ Time,” the Hari of the Vishnu Purana.
Thoreau, too, held the doctrine of original sinlessness :
1 ‘ How careful we must be to keep the crystal well we are
made clear ! ” * * * §
He holds the true self to be absolutely incapable of sin
and not responsible for the deeds of the unreal, worldly self:
“ A great soul will not consider its sins as its own, but be
more absorbed in the prospect of that valor and virtue for the
future which is more properly itself than in these improper ac-
tions which, by being sins, discover themselves to be not itself." f
An interesting passage in the Zenda Vesta forms a par-
allel to this:
“ All good thoughts, words and works are done know-
ingly ; all bad thoughts, words and actions are not done know-
ingly. ” t
d. Sin.
This, then, is the meaning and significance of sin. As
the king’s son in the far country forgot his origin and consid-
ered himself merely a barbarian, man’s soul in the world has
lost sight of its original Oneness with the Divine. This is
the Vedic conception of sin :
“ Ihr kenut ihn nicht der diese Welt gemacht hat; ein
andere schob sich zwischen ezcch und ihm. ” §
The Vishnu Purana explains the advent of sin in the
world thus :
“ ... After awhile . . . that portion of Hari
which has been described as Kala (Time) infused into created
beings sin." ||
Thoreau’s definition of sin is in the same strain :
“ Sin, I am sure, is not in overt acts nor indeed in acts of
* Autumn, p. 153.
t Winter, p. 144.
f Zenda Vesta, Vol. Ill, p. 19.
§ Rig-Veda, 10, 31. Deussen, p. 139. “Ye know not Him who has
made this world ; another shoved himself between you and Him.’’
|| Vishnu Purana, p. 45 ; cf. also, p. 47. Thoreau uses the same word,
“ Time,” the Hari of the Vishnu Purana.