Crime and karma

The old adage we all are aware of is crime does not pay. At the time when Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) was still under the British, this country was a very wonderful place where the people were wary of doing the wrong thing. It was very seldom that we heard of murders unless it was due to a sudden provocation and that too when the influence of Bacchus had a hand in it. We never heard of people trafficking in and others getting addicted to narcotics. At the rate the police are discovering and arresting drug dealers, the drug business seems to be a very lucrative one. It was so lucrative that the drug barons resorted to killing rivals to gain a monopoly of the business. But, in the end, the culprits get arrested and most often get killed in a showdown with the police or when trying to escape from the custody of the police. This is the karma or fate that befalls on the underworld kingpins for all the killings and other similar heinous crimes committed by them. The drug business being so lucrative, some police officers in the Narcotics Bureau resorted to siphoning off some of the drugs back into the market and earned a very good packet. Fortunately, they were caught and necessary action taken against them.

Buddhists believe that there is always an equal and opposite reaction to whatever action one does, by deed, word or thought. As such any evil action will result in the person who commits such act receiving a similar fate in this life or a later life in his/her samsaric journey. If the karmic action does not have the retributive effect on the person who committed the crime, the repercussions might befall on such person’s offspring/s.

We have seen the karmic effect in many cases during our lifetime.

The underworld criminals involved in the lucrative drug trade with killing rival gang leaders and murdering sometimes innocent people to get their money and other valuable things including jewellery, enjoy the ill-gotten money for a short time and then their life gets snuffed out in some unexpected manner. Never will a person be able to use the money accumulated in the wrong way as such person may become seriously ill so that all the money accumulated will have to be spent for medical treatment.

When a bird lives it eats ants, and when the bird dies the ants eat it. One tree is sufficient to make over one million matchsticks, but only one matchstick is needed to burn a million trees.

Circumstances can change at any time. You may be powerful today. But time is more powerful than you. Every one of us has to be careful in what we do however powerful one may be because the retributive action is sure to take place.

HM Nissanka Warakaulle