In the Hindu ritual known as varunapraghasa an oblation is made to Varuna, god of morality. Appeased by the sacrificer's offering, Varuna then releases him from evil and seizes his rival instead. The unusual means by which this transfer of evil is effected is the confession by the sacrificer's wife of the name of her paramour. It is to this lover that the evil is transferred. Interpretations of the varunapraghasa vary widely. But it is clear that the central purpose of the rite is to turn untruth (anrta) into truth (rta) and transfer untruth to the rival. The ritual involves a particular Hindu response to the problem of evil, i.e. theodicy, that besets most religions. In this particular case the underlying belief was that evil "arose in a god who [was] then forced to rid himself of it by transferring it to men or women" (O'Flaherty 141). Human beings can, in turn, effect a further transfer of this evil to other persons--in a number of different ways. The nature of the evil, or sin, or anrta that is reassigned in the varunapraghasa, and the reasons for employing the particular means of transferring evil, can only be understood in light of the elucidation of Hindu theodicy in the myths that surround the prescription of the ritual.
Theodicy is often viewed as a product of monotheism. If God is both omnipotent and entirely benevolent, then how can evil exist? Logically, if God is all-powerful, then he must be able to eliminate evil, and if he is all-good, then he must desire to do so. Yet evil exists and God, therefore, must either be less-than omnipotent or less than all-kind. Theodicy is also a problem of polytheistic religions, however, if it is viewed as "the existential need to explain suffering and evil" (O'Flaherty 2). And, more generally, it is a problem for any religion whose system of beliefs cannot adequately explain the existence of human suffering. Hinduism, like most religions, clearly knew the strain indu...