Penance and expiation were given considerable
emphasis in the dharma literature, based on the almost universal Hindu belief
in the inescapable workings of karma.
All good and evil acts, according to this belief, will
ultimately have a consequence, either in this life or the next.
Penances were a technique of reducing the future
repercussions of one's past wrongdoings by voluntarily suffering and expiating
in this life.
Prayashchitta is another name for prayashchitta.
