What is the punishment for lusting on female relatives?

Question

What is the punishment for a lusting on female relatives especially father's sister in smritis and itiHasas? Please dont use chatgpt or ai as i am not finding even one verse mentioned in ai in actual books..please help me.. I am looking for verses which describe penance and punishment..

Answer 1

There is no punishment for bad thoughts. Sin only accrues to sinful deeds and not thoughts. Think of a chess game. You may be calculating long sequences of moves. Those thoughts will not matter. Only actual movement of pieces will be officially considered.

Parikshit, who was like a honey-bee in grasping the essential good in everything, abstained from killing Kali, because there is one great excellence pertaining to his age – whatever good you do fructifies immediately, but not so the evil deeds; and besides, in Kali’s age sin accrues only to sinful deeds and not to sinful thoughts. Kali is like one who is cowardly before the brave, but brave before the cowardly. He holds no fear for the good, but like a wolf he is always vigilant and alert to pounce upon those who are thoughtless and unobservant.

Srimad Bhagavata Purana translated by Swami Tapasyananda I.18.7

I checked the on line translation given in vedabase after reading the comment.

ŚB 1.18.7

नानुद्वेष्टि कलिं सम्राट् सारङ्ग इव सारभुक् । कुशलान्याशु सिद्ध्यन्ति नेतराणि कृतानि यत् ॥ ७ ॥ nānudveṣṭi kaliṁ samrāṭ sāraṅga iva sāra-bhuk kuśalāny āśu siddhyanti netarāṇi kṛtāni yat

Synonyms

na — never; anudveṣṭi — envious; kalim — unto the personality of Kali; samrāṭ — the Emperor; sāram-ga — realist, like the bees; iva — like; sāra-bhuk — one who accepts the substance; kuśalāni — auspicious objects; āśu — immediately; siddhyanti — become successful; na — never; itarāṇi — which are inauspicious; kṛtāni — being performed; yat — as much as.

Translation

Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a realist, like the bees who only accept the essence [of a flower]. He knew perfectly well that in this Age of Kali, auspicious things produce good effects immediately, whereas inauspicious acts must be actually performed [to render effects]. So he was never envious of the personality of Kali.

Vedabase translation (https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/18/7/)

It also says that bad acts must be actually performed to be effective. The implication is that sinful thoughts do not lead to sin.