Forgiveness

==== Hindu Dharma ====
{{Main|Kshama}}
[[File:Holi Feest 2008 meisjes.jpg|thumb|[[Holi]] is the Hindu festival of colors, celebrated in spring. Traditionally, this is also a day to mark forgiveness, meet others, and repair relationships.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite journal|last=Agarwal|first=R.|year=2013|url=http://forum.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sujsha/article/view/7501|url-status=dead|title=Water Festivals of Thailand: The Indian Connection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102204158/http://forum.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sujsha/article/view/7501 |archive-date=2013-11-02 |location=Silpakorn University|journal= Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts|pages=7–18}}
|2={{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/59795/Vaishnava-rites|url-status=dead|title=Vaishnava Rites|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007055612/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/59795/Vaishnava-rites |archive-date=2013-10-07 |at=Sacred times and festivals|website= Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2009}} }}</ref> In Indonesia, among Balinese Hindus, Ngembak Geni — the day after [[Nyepi]] – is the ritual festive day in spring to meet, and both seek forgiveness and forgive each other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indo.com/culture/nyepi.html|title=Bali's day of silence|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131115634/http://indo.com/culture/nyepi.html |archive-date=2009-01-31 |website=Bali & Indonesia on the Net|year=2010}}</ref>]]

In [[Vedic period#Literature|Vedic literature]] and [[Indian epic poetry|epics]] of [[Hinduism]], {{transliteration|sa|ksama}} or {{transliteration|sa|kshyama}} ([[Sanskrit]]: [[Wiktionary:क्षमा|क्षमा]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=forgiveness+&trans=Translate&direction=AU|url-status=dead|title=Forgiveness|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102133347/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=forgiveness+&trans=Translate&direction=AU |archive-date=2013-11-02 |website=English-Sanskrit Dictionary, Spoken Sanskrit|location=Germany|year=2010}}</ref> and fusion words based on it, name the concept of forgiveness. The word {{transliteration|sa|ksama}} is often combined with {{transliteration|sa|kripa}} (tenderness), {{transliteration|sa|daya}} (kindness), and {{transliteration|sa|karuna}} ([[Wiktionary:करुणा|करुणा]], compassion) in [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit texts]].<ref name="mpt">{{cite book|first1=Michael E.|last1=McCullough|first2=Kenneth I.|last2=Pargament|first3=Carl E.|last3=Thoresen|year=2001|title=Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice|publisher=The Guildford Press|isbn=978-1572307117|pages=21–39}}</ref> In [[Rigveda|the Rigveda]], forgiveness is discussed in verses dedicated to the deity Varuna, both the context of the one who has done wrong and the one who is wronged.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|translator-first=Ralph|translator-last=Griffith|title=The Hymns of RugVeda|publisher=Motilal Banarsidas|year=1973}}
|2={{cite journal|last=Hunter|first=Alan|year=2007|title=Forgiveness: Hindu and Western Perspectives|journal=[[Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies]]|volume=20|number=1|page=11|doi=10.7825/2164-6279.1386 |doi-access=free}}
}}</ref> Forgiveness is considered one of the six cardinal virtues in Hindu Dharma.

The theological basis for forgiveness in Hindu Dharma is that a person who does not forgive carries baggage of memories of the wrong, of negative feelings, and of [[Anger#Hinduism|anger]], and unresolved emotions that affect their present as well as future. In Hindu Dharma, not only should one forgive others, but one must also seek forgiveness if one has wronged someone else.<ref name="mpt" /> Forgiveness is to be sought from the individual wronged, as well as society at large, by means of [[Dāna#Hinduism|charity]], [[Ritual purification#Hinduism|purification]], [[Vrata#Hinduism|fasting]], [[Hinduism#Rituals|rituals]], and [[Dhyana in Hinduism|meditative]] introspection.

Forgiveness is further refined in Hindu Dharma by rhetorically contrasting it in feminine and masculine form. In feminine form, one form of forgiveness is explained through [[Lakshmi]] (called [[Hindu deities|Goddess]] Sri in some parts of India); the other form is explained in the masculine form through her husband [[Vishnu]].<ref name="mpt" /> Feminine Lakshmi forgives even when the one who does wrong does not repent. Masculine Vishnu, on the other hand, forgives only when the wrongdoer repents. In Hindu Dharma, the feminine forgiveness granted without repentance by Lakshmi is higher and more noble than the masculine forgiveness granted only after there is repentance. In the Hindu epic [[Ramayana]], [[Sita]] – the wife of King [[Rama]] – is symbolically eulogized for forgiving a crow even as it harms her. Later in the epic Ramayana, she is eulogized again for forgiving those who harass her while she has been kidnapped in [[Lanka]].<ref name="mpt" /> Many other Hindu stories discuss forgiveness with or without repentance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ransley|first=Cynthia|year=2004|title=Forgiveness: Themes and issues. Forgiveness and the healing process: A central therapeutic concern|isbn=1-58391-182-0|publisher=Brunner-Routledge|pages=10–32}}</ref>

The concept of forgiveness is treated in extensive debates within Hindu literature. In some [[Hindu texts]],<ref>See ''Manusamhita'', 11.55, ''Mahabharata'' Vol. II, 1022:8</ref> certain [[Sin#Hinduism|sins]] and intentional acts are debated as naturally unforgivable, for example, murder and rape; these ancient scholars argue whether blanket forgiveness is [[Hindu ethics|morally]] justifiable in every circumstance, and whether forgiveness encourages crime, disrespect, social disorder, and people not taking you seriously.<ref>{{cite book|first=Prafulla|last=Mohapatra|year=2008|title=Ethics and Society|publisher=Concept Publishing|isbn=978-8180695230|pages=22–25}}</ref>

Other ancient Hindu texts highlight that forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. Forgiveness in Hindu Dharma does not necessarily require that one reconcile with the offender, nor does it rule out reconciliation in some situations. Instead forgiveness in Hindu philosophy is being [[Compassion#Hinduism|compassionate]], tender, kind, and letting go of the harm or hurt caused by someone or something else.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Temoshok|first1=Lydia R.|last2=Chandra|first2=Prabha S.|title=Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice|publisher=The Guildford Press|isbn=978-1572307117| editor-last1=McCullough | editor-first1=Michael E. | editor-last2=Pargament | editor-first2=Kenneth I. | editor-last3=Thoresen | editor-first3=Carl E. | chapter=The Meaning of Forgiveness in a Specific Situational and Cultural Context|date=28 August 2001 }}</ref> Forgiveness is essential for one to free oneself from negative thoughts, and to be able to focus on blissfully living a moral and ethical life (a ''dharmic'' life).<ref name="mpt" /> In the highest self-realized state, forgiveness becomes the essence of one's personality, where the persecuted person remains unaffected, without agitation, without feeling like a victim, free from [[Arishadvargas|anger]] ({{transliteration|sa|akrodhi}}).<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|last=Radhakrishnan|first=Sarvepalli|year=1995|title=Religion and Society|location=Indus|publisher=Harper Collins India}}
|2={{cite book|last=Sinha|first=Jadunath|year=1985|title=Indian psychology|volume=2 (Emotion and Will)|publisher=Motilal Banarsidas|location=New Delhi}}
}}</ref>

Other epics and ancient literature of Hindu Dharma discuss forgiveness. For example:

{{Blockquote|<poem>Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is the Vedas; forgiveness is the Shruti.
Forgiveness protecteth the ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together.</poem>|[[Mahabharata]], Book 3, Vana Parva, Section XXIX<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15474/15474-h/15474-h.htm#link2H_4_0322|chapter=Vana Parva|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327231954/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15474/15474-h/15474-h.htm |archive-date=2013-03-27|at=Section XXIX|title=Mahabharata|volume=I|year=1896|author= Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa|translator=Kisari Mohan Ganguli}}</ref>}}

{{Blockquote|Righteousness is the one highest good, forgiveness is the one supreme peace, knowledge is one supreme contentment, and benevolence, one sole happiness.|[[Mahabharata]], Book 5, Udyoga Parva, Section XXXIII<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05033.htm|chapter=Udyoga Parva, chapter XXXIII|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012081817/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05033.htm |archive-date=2013-10-12|title=Mahabharata|translator=Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli}}</ref>}}

{{Blockquote|text=<poem>
Janak asked: "Oh lord, how does one attain wisdom? how does liberation happen?"
Ashtavakra replied: "Oh beloved, if you want liberation, then renounce imagined passions as poison, take forgiveness, innocence, compassion, contentment and truth as nectar; (...)"
</poem>|sign=[[Ashtavakra Gita]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osho.com/osho-online-library/osho-talks/krishna-yoga-janak-2a36cc7b-0cd?p=9dcf65d6ecc65c6bb95af1370350e875|title=Ashtavakra Gita, Chapter 1, Verse 2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029002436/http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-janak-ashtavakra-statements-b14e68d3-99b.aspx |archive-date=2013-10-29 |translator=OSHO|year=2008}}
* Original: मुक्तिं इच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज । '''क्षमा'''र्जवदयातोषसत्यं पीयूषवद् भज || 2 ||
* Ashtavakra Gita has over 10 translations, each different; the above is closest consensus version</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Mukerjee | first=Radhakamal | title=Aṣṭāvakragītā (the Song of the Self Supreme): The Classical Text of Ātmādvaita by Aṣṭāvakra | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. | date=1971 | isbn=978-81-208-1367-0 | page=}}</ref>}}