Valmiki-an Syndrome
Most of us in India have heard of Valmiki, the sage who composed the rāmāyanā, India’s enduring myth.
I am not so concerned with the sage as I am with his life before he became one. Myth has it that he was a notorious highwayman named ratnākarā, who waylaid travellers and robbed them of their belongings after killing them.
One day, our hero accosted a sage with intent to loot and pillage. They got talking and the sage told him that taking a life was bad with the accompanying bromide – eternity in “hell”, no turns at the salvation lottery and so forth.
The sage then asked him why he thieved to which ratnākarā replied that he had to do it to feed and take care of his family.
The sage told him that he’d wait while asking our hero to return home and find out from the latter’s family whether they would accept their share of the attendant sin from the homicides for material gain or just plain boredom (who knew?).
Our friend went back home and had a conversation with his family – which we were led to believe comprised his parents, wife and children – on the lines of something like this executive summary:
ratnākarā: I kill and loot people to provide for you all. Will you also take a share of any sin that accompanies the act.
Family: It is your duty to provide food for us, shelter us, take care of us and our needs. As far as partaking of any karmic or other consequences of your actions. . . . ummmm, no.
Basically, they told him to go FUCK HIMSELF with knobs on!!
And that dear readers is the Valmiki-an Syndrome. People will freely partake of benefits when offered; never in the underlying risks and actions that made them possible.