EVIL
A word that closely approximates the English word evil
is the Sanskrit and Pali term papa,which can be used
to describe anything bad, wicked, troublesome, harm-
ful, inauspicious, vile, or wretched. Although Bud-
dhists have formulated various interpretations of the
evils and misfortunes that befall human beings, from
an ethical perspective they regard evil as the conse-
quence of previous harmful actions that, by the cause-
and-effect laws of KARMA(ACTION), return to beleaguer
the perpetrator. In its chapter on papa,the DHAMMA-
PADA(Words of the Doctrine) articulates the moral di-
mensions of the notion of evil as wrongdoing that
brings about further harm and unfortunate conse-
quences in this life and the next: Evil conduct should
be avoided just as poison is avoided, for it results only
in sorrow.
The MAINSTREAMBUDDHIST SCHOOLSdo not face
the problem of theodicy in its classic form, which arises
in monotheistic traditions that accept an all powerful,
all knowing, and fully benevolent creator deity who
still apparently allows suffering and misfortune to
strike the innocent. For one thing, Buddhists do not
accept the notion of a creator god who could be held
accountable for evil. Instead, evil is simply an in-
evitable feature of SAMSARA, or the cycle of REBIRTH;
those who acknowledge the first noble truth recognize
that life in samsara entails DUHKHA(SUFFERING). That
which humans may be inclined to call evil (i.e., suf-
fering) has been from eternity a necessary condition of
life in impermanence, which ceases completely only
upon the attainment of NIRVANA.
Buddhism also offers a thorough explanatory ac-
count for what prompts immoral deeds: The condition
of SENTIENT BEINGSin samsara is to be beset by igno-
rance and craving. Sentient beings are deeply mired in
greed, hatred, and delusion, which are the roots of
harmful acts. Harmful acts bear consequences for one-
self and others, implicating the wicked further into a
cycle of evil and suffering.
Yet as Buddhist doctrine developed philosophically,
a distinctive form of theodicy emerged in some tradi-
tions within the MAHAYANA. As Peter Gregory argues,
the Chinese AWAKENING OFFAITH(DASHENG QIXIN
LUN) poses questions about the presence of ignorance
in light of the TATHAGATAGARBHA doctrine, which
holds that all beings contain the germ of enlighten-
ment and are, in their true nature, intrinsically en-
lightened. If the mind is by nature enlightened, how
did it come to be defiled by ignorance and suffering?
For Gregory this philosophical problem exposes a fun-
damental issue that Buddhist karma theory does not
satisfactorily resolve. Although karma theory accounts
for the apparent injustices in the world, it does not ul-
timately explain the metaphysical fact of why human
beings find themselves in such a world to begin with.
Although early Buddhists chose to avoid metaphysical
vexations of this sort, later Buddhist philosophers did
attempt to tackle such questions.Moreover, from the soteriological point of view,
there is a long tradition in Buddhism of identifying the
religious life as poised beyond the dualism of good and
evil. The Dhammapadaasserts: “But one who is above
good and evil and follows the religious life, who moves
in the world with deliberation, that one is called a men-
dicant” (267). Indeed the quest for nirvana is the as-
piration to transcend the world of karma and morality,
and thus good and evil, altogether.Karma theory notwithstanding, Buddhists have
throughout their long history accommodated theistic
and animistic accounts of evil in more pedestrian ways,
and they have developed technologies (e.g., spells, de-
ity propitiation, astrological advice) to ward off evil.
Some scholars, such as Gananath Obeyeskere and
Melford Spiro, have suggested that karma theory pro-
vides little sense of comfort or control over the day-
to-day depredations that are regarded as evil. In this
view, while the notion of karma provides an exhaus-
tive and failsafe account of the causes of evil, it is not
always psychologically or experientially satisfying. Past
immoral deeds that result in present suffering are both
remote and unknown since few have memory of pre-
vious lives. Moreover, it is the nature of evil to vic-
timize those upon whom it falls, and to exert itself in
an immediate way as an imposition from the outside.
Such cruelties as accidents, sudden illnesses, and pre-
mature death arrive unannounced and unforeseen,
often visiting the apparently innocent and striking
with powerful and unyielding vengeance. Viewing evil
as the result of malevolent influences from meddle-
some deities or inauspicious arrangements of celestial
bodies, while not entirely consistent with karma the-
ory, provides an immediate recourse for warding off,
or at least containing, misfortune by ritual and apo-
tropaic means.Finally, Buddhists have also found meaning in evil
through mythology. The cosmogonic myth recounted
in the Aggañña-sutta(Knowing the Beginning) provides
an account of the origins of evil in the gradual descentEVIL