When Silence Becomes Adharma: Negative Karma from Inaction and Lack of Courage

Many believe in the popular conception of karma, which states that an individual’s actions are the only basis for judgment. If they do not cause harm to others, or steal or do something wrong, they believe they do not have any negative Karmic consequences. But Sanatana Dharma offers a much greater understanding of karma. It is a teaching that is predicated on not just action but inaction, or the lack of action when it is required.

Karma Is Not Only About What We do – Silence, Inaction and Lack of Courage can become Adharma
It is possible for a person to be doing something right, and still be building up negative karma by being passive in the face of injustice, or failing to take responsibility, or failing to do what they are able. Dharma doesn’t just ask, “What did you do?” It also poses a question: What you are supposed to do but didn’t do?

The Spiritual Cost of Avoiding Duty
People often confront situations in their lives that test their moral courage. Sometimes, one needs to be very clear in the communication and intentions against injustice, while offering assistance to the innocent, or even to someone in need. Those who intentionally defer their duties in fear, for lack of convenience, apathy, or attachment to personal comfort, never accomplish their dharma.

The Bhagavad Gita is a great example that teaches us that inaction can also harm an individual, just as wrongful action does. The epic Mahabharata narrates the true value of this moral. In fact, the teachings of the Gita are based on this action of Dharma that Lord Krishna taught Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Arjuna was filled with emotion of guilt and moral doubt when he saw his near and dear ones on the rival side and wanted to abandon the war. However, Krishna reminded him of the injustice done to them by their Kaurava brothers and warned him that if he were ever to run away from conflict that was meant to restore dharma, he would lose the true virtue.

When Neutrality Supports Adharma
The Mahabharata teaches us about the repercussions of silence and hesitation. There were many wise, old, and respected men and women in the Kaurava court who saw injustice, but could not do anything about it. Though they were not the actual perpetrators of these faults, their apathy helped the adharma grow. That’s an awkward but important lesson that the world will teach us—neutrality in the presence of wrongdoing can be a form of unwitting participation in wrongdoing. Negative karma does not need to come from doing something bad; by allowing something bad to happen if you knew it was bad, then it will have negative karmic consequences.

Courage: A Spiritual Virtue
For Sanatana Dharma, courage is more than just a worldly quality; it is a spiritual requirement. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is when one acts with courage and upholds dharma in spite of fear. Most importantly, no one is expected to be a superhero for dharma. It is in this way that it is asking each person to do what is reasonably possible, the principle being yathā śakti, or “according to one’s capacity”. A little bit of truth, kindness, and/or defiance of injustice can be of great spiritual worth.

Choosing Action Over Regret
The law of Karma states that we are not only responsible for what we do, but also for what we do not do. For instance, in circumstances that need truth to be spoken, when justice is called for, when assistance can be given, silence, hesitation, and indifference leave their mark on the soul. The way of righteousness thus requires wisdom, responsibility, and courage. When we do what we can and leave the results to the Divine, we do our duty, we help make society and community better, and we make good progress toward becoming better. But it’s the times we knew what was right and chose not to do it that often haunt us more than our mistakes.