Talk:Reducing Bad Karm and Adding Good Karm:Internal and External Purity
By Vishal Agarwal
Some confuse external purity with internal purity. Therefore, the following passage cited as illustrations to distinguish between the two–
Purification is of two types– external and internal. External purification is achieved through water and clay. Internal purification results from cleansing of one’s inner thoughts (and emotions). Vādhūla Smṛti 19 (also Dakṣa Smṛti 5.3)
Different types of impurities and pāpa require different solutions to clean them. The same soap does not get rid of all kinds of dirt. Therefore, śāstrās propose several different types of purifying means:
(Spiritual) knowledge, austerity, fire, food (pure), clay, mind, water, smearing (with cow dung), wind, sacred ceremonies, the sun and time are the purifiers of the embodied.
Among all means of purification, purity in (acquisition of) wealth is declared to be the best because he is pure who earns honestly, not he who cleans himself with clay and water. Manusmṛti 5.106
The learned are purified by a forgiving behavior, those who have committed forbidden deeds are purified through charity, those who have committed evil in secret by reciting sacred texts, and those who know the Vedas by performing austerities. Manusmṛti 5.107
Bodies are purified by water, mind by truthfulness, one’s individual ātmā by truth and the intellect by (spiritual) knowledge. Manusmṛti 5.109
Purification for doing prohibited acts results from charity, rivers are purified by flow, dirty objects are purified by clay and water, the twice born are purified by taking Saṁnyāsa, the knowers of Vedas are purified by austerity, the wise are purified by forgiving others, the body is purified by water, pāpa committed in secret by japa, and the mind is purified by truth. The ātmā is purified by austerity and knowledge, and intellect is purified by knowledge. And the ātmā [that has been purified by austerity and knowledge] is purified completely by knowledge of the Divine – this is the most authoritative opinion. Yājñavalkya Smṛti 3.32–34
However, it is wrong to think that the external and internal taints of pāpa are removed by completely different means of purification. The same purification agent can remove multiple types of taint and have multiple types of benefits. For example, pilgrimage can wash out our bad karm to some extent, and it can also benefit us spiritually in other ways.
Conversely, the same cause can lead to both external and internal taints. A good example is that if we eat tainted food, it can not only make us ill, but also affect our mind negatively (e.g., make us more excited and angrier), which in turn leads to spiritual harms because only a calm mind that is free of anger and other vices can imbibe spiritual wisdom. Internal purity is definitely superior to external purity even though both are needed–
External purity is preferable to impurity, and internal purity is superior to external purity. But he alone is pure who is pure both internally and externally. Dakṣa Smṛti 5.4
Compassion, forbearance, freedom from envy, purity of body/mind and speech, absence of intemperate desires and ambitions, doing virtuous acts, not debasing oneself in front of others and not coveting sensual pleasures or possessions of others – these are the 8 qualities of the ātmā, that lead to one’s union with Supreme Being. A man who has performed all the 40 saṁskāra-s (sacraments) but does not have these 8 qualities does not reach Brahman, but he who has these 8 qualities of the soul and has performed only a few of these 40 saṁskāra-s reaches Brahman. Gautama Dharmasūtra 8.24–26
If a person is defiled in inner emotions, all his external actions never bear fruit even if he puts in his utmost effort. Vāyu Purāṇa 2.8.182
Even if a person donates all his possessions but has an impious inner ātmā, he shall not be considered virtuous. Piety is the true cause of perfection. Vāyu Purāṇa 2.8.183