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APRIL, 1990
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himsā, as food. He would not knowingly and on purpose cause injury to any living being, howsoever low in the scale of vitalities. But a Jain householder, following the discipline of his order, the smaller vows, called anu-vratas, may be guilty of himsā unwittingly, or unavoidably caused, or caused without design or pre-meditation.
So far as a householder is concerned, himsā is divided, into various kinds. It is either arambhaja, viz., that which arises from engagements in occupations, in spite of all care and caution, or anārambhaja otherwise called samkalpi, viz, that which is committed intentionally or knowingly e. g., hunting, offering sacrifices, killing for food, amusement, or decoration, or out of mischief, enmity, malice, or jealousy.
Intentional Hurting
Samkalpi himsā is entirely renounced by a householder and may well be avoided by every thinking person, without any injury, harm, or serious inconvenience to himself. If he is placed in circumstances. where he cannot avoid the commission of himsā, his act would be himsä all the same, but the degree of culpability would vary with the varying circumstances. Let us take a few cases by way of illustration, and leave the inquisitive disciple, or the thinking scholar to discuss the rest with persons who are their superiors in knowledge and conduct.
There is a festering wound in the body, full of maggots. One would remove the maggots as carefully as he can, wash the wound and dress it up.
While going on an urgent business, one finds a swarm of ants, or earth worms on the ground in front. He would try to avoid crushing them by deviating from the path, and if that be impracticable, he would tread gently and carefully, and avoid hurting the living beings as far as is possible.
A fly is caught in a spider's web, and he runs to sting it to death. A Jain householder would do what he can to extricate the fly by breaking the web. This act is Ahimsā, protection of life, though some little injury has been caused to the spider in the damage to its web, and in the loss of its food.
A person is suffering from a disease caused by bacilli. A Jain Doctor would not mind giving such medicine as he knows would kill the germs. His act would certainly be himsă, but himsă of two-sensed beings and
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