Paap Vs Sin

Happened to read Devdutt Pattanaik explaining it so nicely that I thought all of us should read him:

Devdutt Pattanaik:

The word 'paap' is commonly translated as sin. But the word sin has no antonym in English: you either follow word of God or you sin. The word sin is even used by in secular contexts strangely. Paap has an opposite: punya, a word that cannot be translated in English. If you translate punya as virtue or merit, then paap becomes vice or demerit, not sin.

Sin comes from a worldview where there are absolute rules from an unquestionable authority. Paap and punya come from a worldview where actions are deemed good or bad depending on the other person's point of view.

The modern legal system is based on the concept of 'sin', not 'paap-punya'. Indian society, however, thinks in terms of 'paap-punya' where accumulated merits can be used to negotiate against a demerit. Since we reject 'paap-punya' as myth and assume 'sin' and 'law' to be truth (both are myths/beliefs/assumptions), we end up creating conflict between people's beliefs and intellectual's ideologies, resulting in the mess that is now India.