One of the most harmful aspects of material life is that it can never be satisfying enough. Material life means associating with maya, or God’s energy which pervades the material creation. Maya tells us that we will be happy trying to satisfy our senses through various activities, thus tempting us into taking up sinful activity. Not only do sins carry negative future consequences, but they have an inherent illusory aspect. This illusion clouds our minds and leads us astray from the path of righteousness, or dharma. If sinful activity continues unchecked, it can lead to our demise.
There are various definitions for what actually constitutes sinful activity or sinful life, but at its core, a sin is something that goes against scriptural injunctions. Sins have negative reactions attached to them, such as punishment in hellish planets in the afterlife, but the most detrimental part of sinful life is that it causes one to be bound to the cycle of birth and death. Our soul is eternal, but our body is not. The activities of this life are a preparation for the next life. In the same way that we make plans for the next day, week, and month in our day-to-day affairs, the aggregate total of our actions in this life works towards developing the type of body we receive in the next life. Our consciousness, developed by our work and desires, at the time of death determines where are soul will next end up.
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)
“The material atmosphere, in which we are now living, is called maya, or illusion. Maya means "that which is not." And what is this illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be lords of material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the all-powerful master, he is said to be in illusion.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Science of Self-Realization, Ch 5c)
Maya is known as God’s illusory energy because she entices us into acting sinfully. Illusion means taking something to be what it is not. Since maya causes us to be bound to the cycle of birth and death, she is the cause of misery. However, her true illusion lies in the fact that she makes us think we’ll be happy by associating with her. Modern society is a perfect illustration of this fact. As time continues to pass from the beginning of creation, man’s affinity for adharma, or irreligion, steadily increases. We are currently in the last of the four Yugas, Kali Yuga, so we see that adherence to dharma is minimal. This means that sinful activity is rampant. Due to our rebellious nature, we are constantly trying to introduce more and more sinful activity into our daily lives.
Modern society is practically a sinner’s paradise. Many people think that Christians or other religious groups are on the rise today, but one look at the current situation in America disproves this notion. Millions of animals are killed in the slaughterhouses each year, including poor innocent cows. Religious leaders raise no objection to these activities. Gambling is so rampant that many state governments actually promote it since it brings in higher tax revenues. Intoxication is so widespread that there are growing movements to legalize more forms of it, such as marijuana use. Illicit sex is not restricted in any way. Men and women freely intermingle, and if a woman happens to get pregnant by accident, there is no hesitation in killing the unborn child in the womb through the abortion process. In many states, men can marry men and women can marry women without a problem. Marriage is actually a religious institution created by God as a way to curb sex life, but modern society has made up its own definition and use for it.
So we see that addiction to sinful activity actually proves to be more harmful than beneficial. This is proof of the illusion. It is similar to how young children complain about the rules imposed by the parents. Good parents force their children to regulate their eating, sleeping, and leisure habits. Meals must be eaten on time, junk food must be avoided, and television viewing is regulated. The current societal predicament is equivalent to putting the children in charge of the house. If the kids were to run things, they would eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Ice cream, candy, and pizza would be served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Adult movies and video games would be on the television day and night. Everyone would go to sleep very late, for there would be no benefit to sleeping on time and getting up early. This life seems appealing to children, but if they were left in charge, they would soon suffer misery as a result of their unregulated activities. This is how maya works. If we associate with her, we will never be satisfied, and in the end, we will meet with doom.
To give protection to the saintly class, Lord Krishna came to earth as Lord Rama, a gallant and brave kshatriya warrior. To protect the sages from the Rakshasas, Rama roamed the forests of India for a brief period of time, accompanied by His wife, Sita Devi, and younger brother, Lakshmana. On one occasion, Ravana’s sister went to Rama’s cottage and propositioned Him. An argument ensued with Lakshmana eventually disfiguring her. She then returned to Lanka and told her brother what happened. Ravana then sent 14,000 Rakshasas to attack Rama. The Lord single-handedly killed all of them without any effort. One of the Rakshasas, Akampana, escaped and returned to Lanka and told Ravana what had transpired. He warned Ravana not to attack Rama, for the demon would be easily defeated in battle. Instead, he advised Ravana to try to kidnap Rama’s beautiful wife, Sita.
“O Ravana, you will see your city of Lanka, which currently is filled with great palatial buildings bedecked with jewels, devastated on account of your desire to kidnap Maithili (Sita).” (Maricha speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 38.25)
It was all because of one woman that Ravana lost everything. Though Ravana didn’t take his advice, Maricha’s words would hold true, as Rama would indeed end up killing Ravana in retaliation for Sita’s kidnap. Rama destroyed everything that Ravana worked so hard to achieve. The lessons from Ravana’s life are many, the most important of which is that sinful activity should be curbed. Does this mean we should simply sit quietly and renounce all activity? We can certainly try this method, but it will be very difficult to perform. This is because it is the inherent nature of the soul to be active and to want variety in its activities. An easier way to avoid sinful life is to take to bhakti yoga, or devotional service.
