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Is it a mental sin to think of killing other people, or fantasize about killing, or simulate the killing of other humans?

Like for example, suppose a person makes several toy humans, and then pretends they are being killed by weapons, and derives pleasure from this act.

Is this considered a mental sin?

Agamas Tantras
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    any action begins with thought. sangaat sanjayate kamah. it's at the very root source. but the consequences of any action are also in the same plane/field/dimension only. if you sin with thoughts, you get punished in mental plane e.g. you might suddenly get unwanted intrusive thoughts at inappropriate times. if you sin with words, you might get abuses hurled at you at unexpected places etc. – ram Mar 27 '19 at 23:33
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    its a mental disease.Disease is not sin, but can be a result of past sins. –  Mar 28 '19 at 03:55
  • ashtavakra samhita - "a man who says he is free becomes free, a man who says he is bound, remains bound; this popular saying is true 'as you thinks so you become.'" if you think of sin, you will commit sin. think pure thoughts. – Swami Vishwananda Mar 28 '19 at 12:12
  • @Pratimaputra Very profound statement. Indeed all sins are not sins but dis-eases that are consequences of ignorance of SELF/GOD as per Nisargadaattaa maharaj. – Sai Baikampadi Mar 30 '19 at 03:50

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Right now we are living in Kali Yuga. And it is said, that in this Yuga, sin is incurred only when the action is performed and not otherwise.

Parashara Smriti's Chapter 1 says in this regard:

  1. " In the Krita sin is incurred by one who converses (with a sinner) ; in the Treta by one who touches (the sinful man) ; in the Dvapara by taking the sinner's food ; in the Kali by a (sinful) act (alone).

Similarly, the book "Essence of Dharma Sindhu" states:

The fruits of virtuous deeds executed in ten years during Krita Yuga are equivalent to what a person in TretaYuga would in a year’s duration; or what ever is earned in a month’s time in Dwapara Yuga; and what he or she would earn in a day’s time and such is the magnitude of good deeds in the Kali Yuga!

In fact, even the very thoughts of doing good deeds would fetch fruitful results, let alone their actual performance.Maha Bhagavata Purana states:

Kushalaanyasu siddhyanti netaraani kritaaniyat/

(In Kali Yuga, Punya Karmas are deemed to have been performed by mere Sankalpa and Papa Karmas are deemed to have been perpetrated only by the actual actions; so said Parashara Maharshi)

And, no, fantasizing about "killing toys" does not seem to be a "sin by mind".

Manu Smriti 12.5. Coveting the property of others, thinking in one’s heart of what is undesirable, and adherence to false (doctrines), are the three kinds of (sinful) mental action.

These above are all the sins committed by mind.

Rickross
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According to the Mahanirvana-Tantra,

apare to yuge devi punyam pApam cha mAnasam/nriNAmAsit kalau puNyam kevalam na tu duskritam// (4/68-69) : Meaning : In the other ages. virtuous and sinful thoughts yield virtue and vice respectively while in the age of kali, virtuous thought yield virtue but sinful thought do not yield sin.

So mental sin is not a sin in the Kaliyuga as per the Tantras.