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[ 311.1:
This rule implies that the principle of justice demands the exp-rience of pleasure and pain which happens to a soul must be due to the action of Dharma and Adharma present in that very soul. In other words the doer of an action himself must reap the consequences of his action and not another person. One cannot enjoy or suffer in consequence of an action done by another. This is the central principle of justice but in Christianity and in systems allied to it there is also a principle of vicarious atonement which appears to be the very contradiction of the law of uniformity and justice, for vicarious atonement implies that it is also possible under special circumstances to mitigate, elevate or nullify altogether the possibility of the fructification of the original action. If a man commits sin it is natural that he should suffer for it. The principle of moral justification demands it and the law of causality supports it but as love is supposed to be the fulfilment of law it is possible to overside inexorable character of law by the superior activity of the principle of mercy and love. Mercy or love as a divine virtue does not contradict law but fulfils it. This is practically the spirit of what is called vicarious atonement. Man sins and ‘God-man' atones for it. This is necessarily vicarious and appears to be an exception in the rule of identity between the doer of an action and the person who reaps its consequences, : If this be not recognized it would not be possible to give
immunity to a sinful person for the evil consequences of his wrong action. The law of justice demands that the sinful man should be punished and this is dictate of Nature and yet the 'God-man' in His infinite compassion takes upon himself the responsibility of the sinful person and liquidates the burden of the sinful man. . Nature cannot protest against it inspite of the fact that it is antagonistic to its normal operation. Nature is justified by the fact that God man through His Infinite compassion is capable of identifying Himself with the sinful man and bearing upon Him the unpleasant consequences waich the action of the sinful man is calculated to create.
