________________
DHARMA IN PRACTICE
103
all forms of himsa at once. He neod entertain no fear of the businoss of the world coming to a stand-still by his abstaining from these avocations, since there are a sufficient number of abhavya Jivas* to carry them on and to insure the continuance of the world. Those are thoy who have not the potentiality to understand the truth. It is not that their souls are any different from those of the bhavya (the antithesis of abhavya), but their karmas are of such a malignant type that they can never long for the truth or grasp it when put before them. They shall never attain nirvana, but always remain entangled in the samsára.
The man who longs for the joy of Gods must propare himself for the practising of absolute ahimsa by a steady course of training. He should begin with abstaining from causing unnecessary injury to all kinds of beings having more than one sense. With respect to the evolution of senses, living beings all under the following five classes :
(1) one-sensed beings who possess only the sense of touch, such as vegetables;
(2) two-sensed beings, i.e., those which possess touch and taste both, such as protozoa and certain varieties of shell-fish;
(3) three-sensed beings, who also enjoy the sense of smell in addition to touch and taste, such as lice, bugs and ants;
(4) four-sensed beings who are endowed with all the senses except hearing; and
(5) five-sensed beings.
In addition to their appropriate or specific senses, all living beings possess three kinds of forces of life, namely ayuh, bodily strength and the power of breathing. The power of communicating with others, which in the higher grades of life assumes the form of speech, is enjoyed by the two-sensed and other higher types, while mind is a distinguishing feature of the five-sensed type alone, though all jivas belonging to that class are not endowed with it. These ton kinds of forcesfive senses, ayuh, bodily strength, breathing, speech and mind-are called the ten prapas.
Now, all thc five kinds of living beings are souls capable of feeling pain though not always in anticipation of injury, for that
*Those who may never attain emancipation.
