"Anyaaya sehan karna ghor paap hai. Anyaaya sehan karna utna hee paap hai jitna ke anyaaya karna." Approximate translation: "Tolerating injustice is as much a crime as committing injustice. It Is Your Duty To Fight Injustice." I heard this first in school, and later read it in books and quoted in TV shows. I have a couple of questions and I am seeking the answers without reading the Gita properly myself. - Does Lord Krishna say that tolerating injustice is as bad or even worse than committing injustice? - If not, what is the Gita's message on dealing with injustice? .
I will let all the learned members of the forum to put across the message from Gita here correctly . I am sure many would be much knowledgeable in it . I vaguely remember reading speaking tree blogs in TOI I think from my college years . Where it was always emphasized by the writers that Gita always preached fighting against injustice even if you were to fight against your kin and kith . that's what I understood from the whole Arjuna and Krishna discourse when Arjuna was in a doubt whether to fight his relatives for the injustice meted out to him.
I agree...In the context of the sloka in the Gita, Arjuna , after coming to the battle field refuses to fight saying that there are his own kith and kin, acharyas in the opposite camp, and refuses to fight..Krishna points out the reason for the breakout of that war, was, unjust usurping of the kingdom from Pandavas by Kauravas, as also call for war. So Krishna reminds Arjuna that he had only responded to the call for war and that by being a kshatriya by birth, it is his duty to fight to save his kingdom, and to reinforce this dharma, he points out that it is even more sinful to just allow injustice to happen than actually committing it.
It is the same sentiment as variations of this quote attributed to Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." It is everyone's duty to speak up against wrong-doing if society is to survive. When you witness a crime, it is your duty to speak up even if your nearest relative is the perpetrator. .
Without the context of Gita, by experience only, I can say: one should not tolerate the injustices. Because, if the brain registers something as unfair- then the related emotional/ physiological things start taking place. It is okay to decide to say nothing keeping in mind the circumstances. But in long run, it can lead to pressure cooker kind of situation- all pressure comes out at once, due to malfunctioning valve. It is important to "push back" at unfairness- that is being registered by one self. Think of that as the "whistles" of Indian pressure cooker, to release the steam. Push back may not always get the result one wants but we must try.