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## The Fruits of Violence
The pain experienced by the body-bearer is the same pain that the killer experiences. Therefore, a wise person should diligently avoid violence that causes suffering to the dying being, distress to their mind, forces them to be reborn in a new womb, and destroys their previous existence. Those who carelessly destroy other beings are called by the wise as the seed of the world-tree of violence. Whether the being dies or not, the careless person will inevitably experience violence. However, if a being's life is lost due to the actions of a person who is free from carelessness, then no violence is incurred.
The question arises: If the being (soul) is eternal and unchanging, how can there be violence against it? And if it is considered completely transient (completely impermanent), how can violence be incurred by its destruction in a moment? Because according to their view, the being that was killed by the killer was already transient, and it was destroyed in that moment. The one whose life was taken is no longer there. Therefore, by considering the being as both eternal and transient, and by considering the pain caused by the separation of any life from the body, the violence that is the cause of sin is incurred.
Some argue that animals like tigers, lions, and snakes that kill other creatures should be killed on sight, as killing one such violent creature will protect many others. This argument is also misleading. If we accept the view that "all beings live by destroying others," then everyone will start killing others to survive. The proverb "might is right" will become a reality. Even if there is a small gain, there is a clear loss of the principal. How can the virtue that comes from non-violence be achieved through violence? How can a lotus born in water be born in fire? How can violence, the cause of sin, become the destroyer of sin? The poison of time, which is the cause of death, can never be a giver of life.
There is a skeptical view called "Dukhamochana" (Pain-Remover). It states that many people in the world are suffering from various ailments. It is desirable to kill these suffering people because their suffering will surely end by eliminating them; they will be freed from their suffering. This statement is also not true. Because such beings often become hell-bound after death. Those who suffer little in this life become recipients of infinite suffering by dying. Similarly, there is another view that believes that killing happy beings will prevent them from committing sins. Such statements by the wicked are also to be rejected.
The skeptic named Charvaka also says, "The soul is not proven in any way, so who is the victim of violence without a soul? And who will experience the fruits of that violence? Just as fermented liquor is prepared from rotten flour, etc., so too consciousness manifests from the coming together of the five elements, and it is destroyed when the group of five elements is destroyed. Then they also say that when the soul ends here, there is no question of its going to the afterlife. And in the absence of an afterlife, it is pointless to talk about virtue and sin. Therefore, performing various austerities is just a wonderful way to suffer. Restraint is like being deprived of the pleasures that are available. In this way, they spread such skeptical ideas to others.
Therefore, they are refuted by giving a logical answer to their arguments. "I am happy, I am unhappy," this kind of perception cannot be in the body, senses, or mind; it can only be in the soul. From this perspective, the soul is proven. "I know the pot." In this sentence, there is knowledge of three things: action, activity, and the doer. How can the doer be denied in these three? If the body is considered the doer, that is also not correct, because an inanimate object cannot be a doer. If the conscious being produced by the combination of the five elements and consciousness is considered the doer, that is also not consistent, because the absence of a single doer in such a conscious being makes statements like "I saw, I heard, I touched, I smelled, I tasted, or I remembered" impossible if the five elements and consciousness are considered inseparable. Just as consciousness is proven in one's own body through self-experience, so too is the soul proven in the bodies of others.