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ABANDONING THE MEANS OF VIOLENCE
Ahimsa can be accomplished only by non-violent ways and means. For practice of ahimsā it is essential to abandon equipment and areas of violence. Weapons or arms and ammunitions are equipment of violence. To own these or indulge in trading and manufacturing of these or any other allied activity foment violence. Majority of incidents of violence are committed using these weapons. Besides territorial ambition another important cause of wars is the production and marketing of arms and ammunitions. In order to sell their produce, powerful nations instigate situations of war and then sell equipment of war at their own price. Put in a corner the other nations purchase these things at inflated prices. If they still fail to reach their sales targets, the powerful nations attack other countries on some pretext or instigate other country and their allies to declare war on some country. To day even war has become a business. Therefore, in order to establish peace it is essential to ban production and stockpiling of arms and ammunitions. These weapons also contribute to personal antagonism and vendetta.
In order to further the goal of ahimsa it is also necessary to curb the areas or places of violence. Some examples are - slaughter-houses, poultry farms, fishery, leather industry, shoe-shops, trading of meat and wine, export of monkeys, silk industry, producing medicines of animal origin, domestication of carnivores like tiger, bear, dogs, etc. All these are merely symbolic. In fact, it is essential to abandon all those activities where direct violence is involved because violence gets ingrained due to indulgence in these activities.
WHY REJECT VIOLENCE?
No being desires misery, no being desires death. All beings are afraid of misery, all beings are afraid of death. Others also dislike the thing that we dislike. Others also dislike in me what I dislike in others. Therefore, the act or behaviour that annoys or offends some being is violence. Therefore, that should be avoided." However, it is surprising that how a person unable to tolerate the pain of a thorn in his flesh does stab others with a knife20; how does he injure others with a bullet or some other weapon?
Jain Education International
109
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