What Is Pāpa?
Pāpa (Sanskrit: evil, sin, demerit) is the karmic residue of actions that violate dharma — harming others, speaking falsely, violating the sacred, failing in one's duties. Pāpa binds the soul to further births in suffering circumstances and obscures the capacity for spiritual vision.
The three primary categories of sin (tri-vidha pāpa):
- Prārabdha pāpa — past pāpa currently bearing fruit (ongoing suffering, current life circumstances)
- Saṃcita pāpa — accumulated pāpa from all past lives, waiting to be experienced
- Āgāmī pāpa — future pāpa from actions being performed now
Pāpa and Prapatti
The most important teaching about pāpa in Sri Vaishnavism is its complete destruction through prapatti. The charama-śloka (Gītā 18.66) says: sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi — "I shall liberate you from all sins." This is not conditional on the type or quantity of pāpa — the Lord promises complete liberation from all pāpa.
Pillai Lokācārya's Mumukṣuppadi extensively discusses whether pāpa can block prapatti — and concludes that pāpa is the very reason for prapatti, not an obstacle to it. The Lord's vātsalya (parental love) makes him more likely to receive the sinful soul, not less — just as a mother rushes to the dirtiest, most fallen child first.
Pāpa Nāśanam
Several Divya Desams are especially associated with the destruction of pāpa — Śrī Pāpa Nāśanam (literally named for this quality), various river-bank temples, and pilgrimage sites at which darśana is held to destroy accumulated pāpa.