Ahimsa Crisis You Decide

Author(s): Sulekh C Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 89

reflection) and to engage in an honest self-assessment of what, where, and when acts of himsa have been committed. In this process, the aspirant recounts, reflects and repents of his actions of himsa and asks for forgiveness from those who have been harmed. He also takes a vow to not repeat the himsa or engage in further himsa. The Pratikraman Sutras include the following eighteen ways himsa can be committed. By reflecting on these eighteen papas (acts of himsa), one is then on a path to minimize himsa in one's life. The eighteen papas (acts of himsa) include: violence, lying, stealing, sensuous indulgence, accumulation, anger, ego, deceit, greed, attachment, resentment, disputation, making false allegations, talking behind the backs of others, affection and disaffection, gossiping, lying, and wrongful perception.
Please note that:
• All eighteen papas reflect various kinds of himsa, • Nearly all of the twelve varatas (vows) of shravaks (lay
followers) deal with avoiding or not doing himsa, and are also about practices that promote nirjara (shedding) of
already accumulated karmas • The seventh Agama of Jains (a holy scripture), which
describes the life histories of ten prominent sharavaks of Mahavir Bhagwan, is mostly concerned with himsa and
ahimsa, • Vigai, as a varat, forbids all dairy products, and • All ten laxan (virtues) dharma of Digambra Jains are based
on ahimsa. Finally, the Acaranga Sutra, which forms the basis of law and conduct for all Jains, “condemns himsa by saying that its operation is without any stop, cessation and discontinuance and it goes on increasing to the extent possible with the political consequence that the race of armaments becomes impossible to arrest and continues to grow without any check.”
An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
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