Theistic Hindus: The problem of evil

[dybmh]

I'm curious what are Hindu answers to the problem of evil. Why does evil exist? Is the supreme being responsible for evil?

Thank you,

 

[Notthedarkweb]

The problem of evil is generally explained in the idea of karma, which is the deterministic pattern of cause-and-effect imputed to a self through its performance of agency, resulting meritorious (punya) and demeritorious (papa) actions. The way it works is that the moral agent undertakes a willed action that has results in a particular state of affairs, that reinforces the agent's moral habit (samskara is the term for habit), out of which further actions are produced. The idea is that karmic retribution is the explanation of failure or suffering, though it's a bit difficult to understand what exactly is meant by it.

Two views are possible:

1. That karmic retribution occurs to the agent as a target, which means that others will undertake particular actions against the agent as punishment. The obvious problem with this approach, even if it is popular, is that moral responsibility requires a concept of free volition underlying acts, otherwise your karmically demeritorious acts are pre-determined by someone else's karmically demeritious actions, which is obviously an unfair proposition.
2. That karmic retribution is framed in an agent-centered perspective, where the success-or-failure terms of an agent's activity is what is karmic retribution (a view found in the work of Karl Potter, for example.) A lot of Indian philosophies of action (following Vatsayana) frame action as intended by the desire for obtainment or aversion of a particular object, and successful action is found in successful fulfilment of this volitional desire. If karmic demerit sticks to habits that cause actions, then karmically demeritorious acts will have the consequence that our acts will fail. The obvious problem with this view, as pointed out by the Buddhist philosopher Santideva, is that our actions are causally determined by our moral habits, which would mean that karmically demeritorious habits would cause an agent to undertake karmically demeritorious acts, and so-forth. This problem was taken in hand by most Indian philosophers after the classical period, resulting in a sort of pessimistic theodicy of liberation where evil occurs because everyone is stuck in a chain of causality, and escape from said causality in the form of mukti as moksha or nirvana is the goal of life.

Edit: The above picture is what medieval and early modern thinkers on the problem of evil thought of in Indian moral philosophy. I am sure people here will have varying views, though.

 

[JustGeorge]

This is my own opinion, and I'm sure that you're aware Hindus tend to vary greatly on their views, so these ideas will not apply across the board, but...

I don't believe God/s/divinity is all powerful. The story of Shiva and Sati deeply affected me. Here you have Shiva, one of(if not the) most powerful manifestations of the divine, and he can't stop his wife from immolating herself. And when she does... he mourns. This idea of the Divine mourning a temporary form makes me feel that the Gods feel grief along with us.

Another factor I consider is that of the Yugas. They are cycles of time. The first was a near perfect time, with each cycle becoming a little less than perfect. Many Hindus believe we're in the final yuga now, and the most corrupt of times. This is a natural occurrence, as all that comes into being slowly degrades. It is part of the way of nature(in my view). I don't see the Divine as being outside of natural laws, but rather that natural laws are a part of the Divine.

 

[dybmh]

karmic retribution is the explanation of failure or suffering,

This encourages non-interference?

 

[dybmh]

The story of Shiva and Sati deeply affected me. Here you have Shiva, one of(if not the) most powerful manifestations of the divine, and he can't stop his wife from immolating herself. And when she does... he mourns. This idea of the Divine mourning a temporary form makes me feel that the Gods feel grieve along with us.

That's a powerful idea. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Vinayaka]

I'm curious what are Hindu answers to the problem of evil. Why does evil exist? Is the supreme being responsible for evil?

Thank you,

Personally I don't believe in pure evil. What you see as evil I see as anava, or primal stupidity to put it into colloquial English.

Anava - Wikipedia

 

[Notthedarkweb]

This encourages non-interference?

Can you elaborate?

 

[dybmh]

Can you elaborate?

If suffering is the result of karmic retribution, then why should I eleviate someone elses suffering? It's karmic so I shouldn't interfere?

 

[Notthedarkweb]

If suffering is the result of karmic retribution, then why should I eleviate someone elses suffering? It's karmic so I shouldn't interfere?

Indian ethics has a very underdeveloped notion of moral patients, I will admit. Though for the moral agent, compassion is a quality that ought to be developed irregardless of situation as a virtuous habit, which is what a lot of rthicists seem to lean on in order to support helping others be freed from their suffering.

Though I think the problem is much harder to elude in the first case I elaborated, since karmic retribution there is framed in terms of just punishment undertaken by a particular moral agent occurring to a moral patient, in the second case, a further thing is that since everything is casually determined in a loop, there's a tragic dimension where agents aren't finally completely in control of their own fates, and this insight is supposed to motivate our compassion towards them.