What Does It Mean To Die For Someone’s Sins

“The guru takes the torchlight of knowledge and presents it before the living entity enveloped in darkness. That knowledge relieves him from the sufferings of the darkness of ignorance.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Science of Self Realization, Ch 2a)

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“I hate to bring other traditions into the discussion. I am not one for comparative study. Those interfaith seminars are nice and all, as a way to be polite, but no one really learns anything. They don’t reach a conclusion. If they did, they would have to abandon their ideology, their allegiance, and their way of thinking. No one is looking to do that. Cooperation is nice, but at some point you have to choose which doctrine you are going to follow.

“At the same time, some concepts are so compelling that they are like the symbol of a particular tradition. A trademark, of sorts. In this discussion, we focus on this idea of accepting another person’s sins. More than accepting, a savior dies for those sins. We do not require the complex definition of sin in order to discuss the concept. Sin in this case can be anything bad.

“If someone takes on my sins, it sort of makes sense. It is like a transfer of ownership. Someone taking over the lease on my car that I no longer drive. If we change teams at the office, a colleague has to complete that project I was working on. I might have made many mistakes, to the point that the colleague has to start from scratch. They essentially absorb my mistakes, my errors, my wrongdoing, and so forth.

“What does it mean to ‘die’ for someone’s sins, though? That is the exact language used in this particular faith. They even have the symbol up at the top, in the house of worship. The image is a reminder of what the savior did. It is a little ghoulish for my tastes, but don’t tell anyone that. They will get upset with me for no reason. How exactly does someone die for another person’s sins? How does that process work moving forward, for what will occur in the future?”

The typical understanding is in the context of a “fall guy.” A group of individuals organize together to commit crimes. They are conspiring in reality; this is not a theory. At some point, the authorities figure out what is going on. They are on to the swindle. They have solved the case, so to speak. They are ready to apprehend the criminals.

Facing imminent apprehension, one person from the group decides to take the fall. They confess. They reveal everything that happened, though their version of events is not entirely accurate. The others abscond with some of the benefits of the crime. There is little trace left. The authorities have no reason to dig further. The one person has taken the fall for the entire group.

If the punishment in this case is death, then the one person has essentially died for the sins of others. They are taking the ultimate fall. There might be guilt on the other side. There might be some reservations in having accepted the deal. Their feelings are immaterial; the deed is done. The others are now free to roam. There is no mark against them. No blemish. No criminal record.

Never does this mean that all future crimes are automatically absolved. The person takes the fall only a single time. In the United States of America, the outgoing president is busy pardoning this person and that. They might use specific language in their pardon, as to what crime is being discussed, or they might offer a sweeping pardon, covering a wide period of time and broad range of activity. Never does that pardon account for future activity.

In the spiritual sense, there is a way for someone to die for my sins. But it is dying so that I will no longer be vulnerable to sin. A person makes the sacrifice to disseminate vital information. In this world, the default path is to follow the mode of passion. This is known as rajo-guna in Sanskrit. Aside from the lack of meaningful progress in this path, one of the negative side effects is the lack of proper judgment. The morals constantly change. One day it is pious to do this, and the next day that same activity is sinful. The person suffering from passion struggles with direction; they are not sure what to make of the life experience.

“Intelligence in the mode of passion is always working perversely. It accepts religions which are not actually religions and rejects actual religion. All views and activities are misguided. Men of passionate intelligence understand a great soul to be a common man and accept a common man as a great soul. They think truth to be untruth and accept untruth as truth. In all activities they simply take the wrong path; therefore their intelligence is in the mode of passion.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 18.31 Purport)

A single person can lift me up. They can take me out of passion and place me into goodness, sattva-guna. From there, I begin to see things as they are. I know my true identity. I have an idea of the factor of time, in the proper understanding of a kalpa, which is billions of years. Most importantly, I have the opportunity to transcend the modes of nature altogether. This is the real meaning of life, to transcend the material and live with the spiritual consciousness.

A single person can be responsible for this transformation. They may make so many sacrifices to reach me. They are not content with sitting in a cave, an ashrama, or some remote area free of disturbance. They wish to help others. They will accept the sins of their followers formally aligned, but the real purpose to the interaction is to light a fire of devotional service to the Almighty, who is a person.

सर्व-धर्मान् परित्यज्य
माम् एकं शरणं व्रज
अहं त्वां सर्व-पापेभ्यो
मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

This person might become so prominent in their rescue efforts that rivals form. There is jealousy reaching the point of malice. Therefore, a group might conspire to take this leader out, to remove them from this world. This is the risk that the spiritual master takes. They might die so that I can live. They might suffer so that I can enjoy. They might tolerate so many disturbances so that I can meditate moving forward, concentrating on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They truly die for my sins, and as long as I continue to choose wisely, in honoring the message of the guru, I will have proper shelter.

In Closing:

The message to spread far and wide,
Truly for my sins he died.

Because enemies chance to take,
Into progress driving a stake.

But those teachings reaching me,
With meaningful benefits to see.

So honoring that sacrifice every day,
Such that safe in transcendence to stay.