Page 79 - Courage Redifined

The dreadful sin :

He had seen his mother at the tender age of two and never
thereafter. Hence, he could not recognize her. Similarly,
Kamlata had also seen him when he was a little child. Now,
he had become a young man and hence, even she could not
identify him as her son. To hide their sinful acts, both of them
had hidden their real identities, too. As a result, without even
the slightest idea of their relation, they fell in this horrible
act of adultery.

The dreadfulness of ignorance :

Isn’t ignorance really dreadful ? They shared blood relations
of mother and son. But unawareness about it lead to such a
dreadful act.

Scriptures state that ignorance is a greater crime than violence,
deceit, theft, or lies because ignorance is the root cause of all
these crimes. A person who is not aware of his soul does not
realize that this soul will have to face terrible sorrows in the
next births due to crimes like violence and theft committed by
him. Hence, he does not stay away from crimes. In the short
run, he believes that it gives him happiness. But he does not
realize the bitter fruits that he would have to face in the next
birth. Hence, he does not think twice before performing any
sinful act. Thus, the root of all is ignorance.
Till ignorance about the soul persists, sorrows will not
end :

Kalikal Sarvagya Shri Hemchandrasoorishwarjee
Maharaja states in Yogshastra :

Sorrow emerges from the ignorance of the soul and hence
this sorrow ends by the right knowledge of the soul. Severe
penance done without such true knowledge is also not
sufficient to eliminate sorrows.
Ignorance : A Curse 69