When one does a wrong act, action is often taken against this act by authority to prevent it from happening it again. This action is known as a punishment. The nature of any punishment is more or less always the same ~ undesirable, making the person not like getting a punishment. Why do we have punishments? The purpose behind allotting a punishment is so that the wrong doer won't do the same mistake again. It is a thing which takes advantage of one's shortcomings and fears. Here's how it works. Once a punishment is allotted, a person is acquainted with the fact that if he does this certain wrong act, he will have to go through that certain punishment. He doesn't want to go through any punishment ~ his shortcoming or fear, so he decides not to do any wrong act to prevent himself from getting any punishment. This is a way of suppressing evil, not abolishing it. That's why it isn't always successful with every person. Some wrong doers may try to hide their actions so they won't get punished. That's the drawback of some ~ rather many ~ punishments. They might keep a person from doing wrong, but if they aren't proper, they might not teach the wrong a lesson or give a sign of guilt withing the wrong. If that doesn't happen, the person isn't bothered by his guilt and may hide his wrong act when he does it. For example, if one is at the thought of robbing someone, he will know that if he does so, he will get arrested. So he'll decide not to do so. But what would happen if another thought comes to his mind saying, 'I'll rob the person and not get caught so I won't have to get arrested.' It is seen here that even under the lid, evil strives to escape as invisible steam.
Punishments are a way of suppressing evil, but in order for them to work, their nature must be preserved. If such a punishment is allotted which isn't even undesirable, a person might not fear getting the punishment at all and keep doing wrong. For instance, if the punishment for murdering someone was to pay a $50 fine, we'd have murderers on the loose everywhere. However, if the punishment is too cruel, it will create fear and unnecessary punctuality among the public. Say there's a teacher in a class who sends students out if they ask silly irrelevant questions. Surely it will keep the students from asking silly questions, but it may also make some of the students not ask questions at all due to the fear of their teacher. This won't be too ideal, either. That's why it should be made sure that punishments are just as severe as the sins for which they were allotted.
A more effective punishment can be the punishment which is given to a culprit to get him a taste of his own evil. This type of punishment follows the 'tit for tat' rule. It is usually successful in teaching the wrong a lesson, but of course, it has to be implemented properly for it to work. Whether this punishment will work or not will also depend on what type of person you're dealing with. Once one realizes how it feels to be the victim of one's own wrong, one doesn't do the same mistake again. For some reason, a man throws a brick at his neighbor's window and brakes it. The neighbor goes to the police and complains. The police go to the man's house and throw a brick at his window braking it too. Once the man comes to know of this, a thought will come in his mind, "This damage is going to cost me a fortune to fix! Wait a min.... this is probably the same amount of damage my neighbor must have had to pay for. He must have had the same thought of how costly it'll be to fix a broken window. Hmmm.... I shouldn't do this again, considering how costly it is to pay for."
Realizing ones mistake is a kind of showing sympathy for others. However, being able to realize one's own mistake depends on one's level of ego. Ego acts like fog on a mirror. The more ego one has, the more fog there is on one's mirror, making it harder to see one's true self. Such punishments which make one realize one's own mistake are like defoggers which set aside the ego of a person, making him see his flaw in his reflection in the mirror.
*parents scolding Ishan for the 10 Rupees he stole*
Punishments are a way of suppressing evil, but in order for them to work, their nature must be preserved. If such a punishment is allotted which isn't even undesirable, a person might not fear getting the punishment at all and keep doing wrong. For instance, if the punishment for murdering someone was to pay a $50 fine, we'd have murderers on the loose everywhere. However, if the punishment is too cruel, it will create fear and unnecessary punctuality among the public. Say there's a teacher in a class who sends students out if they ask silly irrelevant questions. Surely it will keep the students from asking silly questions, but it may also make some of the students not ask questions at all due to the fear of their teacher. This won't be too ideal, either. That's why it should be made sure that punishments are just as severe as the sins for which they were allotted.
A more effective punishment can be the punishment which is given to a culprit to get him a taste of his own evil. This type of punishment follows the 'tit for tat' rule. It is usually successful in teaching the wrong a lesson, but of course, it has to be implemented properly for it to work. Whether this punishment will work or not will also depend on what type of person you're dealing with. Once one realizes how it feels to be the victim of one's own wrong, one doesn't do the same mistake again. For some reason, a man throws a brick at his neighbor's window and brakes it. The neighbor goes to the police and complains. The police go to the man's house and throw a brick at his window braking it too. Once the man comes to know of this, a thought will come in his mind, "This damage is going to cost me a fortune to fix! Wait a min.... this is probably the same amount of damage my neighbor must have had to pay for. He must have had the same thought of how costly it'll be to fix a broken window. Hmmm.... I shouldn't do this again, considering how costly it is to pay for."
Realizing ones mistake is a kind of showing sympathy for others. However, being able to realize one's own mistake depends on one's level of ego. Ego acts like fog on a mirror. The more ego one has, the more fog there is on one's mirror, making it harder to see one's true self. Such punishments which make one realize one's own mistake are like defoggers which set aside the ego of a person, making him see his flaw in his reflection in the mirror.
*parents scolding Ishan for the 10 Rupees he stole*
