Bribe vs Charity
A man gives £100 to charity. Another man gives £100 bribe to a police officer. These 2 actions (Karma), lead to a similar result (drsta karma phala): £100 is lost from each man’s bank account. So really, whether you give a bribe or a charitable donation, the result is the same. Agreed? Hmmm….something doesn’t sound quite right here. But at the same time, it is undeniably true at a physical level – whether you give £100 charity or a £100 bribe, it does lead to £100 being lost on the part of the giver. So what’s the difference between these 2 actions then?
Intention. The intention behind a donation is totally different to the intention behind a bribe. A charitable donation is done with a good moral intent. A ‘dharmic’ intent. Whereas the intention behind a bribe is a bad moral intent. An ‘adharmic’ intent.
So the difference between charity and a bribe is the moral intention behind the action. And is this ‘moral intention’ physical/sthula? No. Intention is not a physical thing, it is just in the form of a thought, in your mind. Therefore it is called subtle/sukshma.
So we agree, on a physical level, these 2 actions produce a similar physical result (i.e. -£100 on your next bank statement). But, there is also a subtle result of an action, which you cannot see, because it’s not physical. What is that? It’s called ‘adrsta karma phala’(unseen result of action). The Veda reveals the existence of this.
How does it work? Veda explains that morally good actions will produce an invisible result called ‘Punya’. And morally bad actions will produce an invisible result called ‘Papa’.
So actions produce Punya and Papa. Then what? If Punya is there, you will experience happiness in life. If Papa is there, you will experience pain. punyam cet suhkham, papam cet duhkham. This is the law of Karma. What goes around, comes around.
So remember, your moral intention behind an action does matter and makes a real difference to life experiences! Hence charity and a bribe are very different at an intention level and will actually produce opposite results in the future once the punya and papa comes back for you to experience.
Hence the advice of our great rishis is simple: think good, do good, earn punya, be happy.
Om Tat Sat
Aditya
