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understood the message of Mahavir in their own language. Mahavir was not using any words since he was a mahamuni. So munis keep silence and communicate their message through living and through setting an example. The lay people, in Jain tradition, are called sravakas (male) and sravikas (female). The word 'sravaka' means a person who listens. Is not this a wonderful situation: the teacher is silent and the student is listening! So, when we go for darsana of our gurus, we don't have to talk to them, we just go to see them. Darsana means seeing - not merely through the two eyes which see things superficially but seeing through the eye of the heart, the eye of imagination, which we call
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the 'third eye'. We go to the temple for darsana and sit there in the presence of the sacred image. This is one of the finest examples of non-violence where even words are unnecessary because there is the risk that the words could be misunderstood or may hurt someone.
As a muni you keep a mukhapattika, a cloth strip to cover the mouth. This is to remind you that you need to speak only when you must, you speak as little as you can, think three times what you want to say and speak only if it is appropriate. Or your words may fall on barren ground. You do this because you want to avoid violence, and the worst kind
of violence is the violence of speech. The language of the politicians is often violent. Such language causes wars. Wars start in our minds and in
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our speech. Only later, we send the big bombers to the battlefields. So politicians should learn to practise silence and they should learn what to speak, how to speak and when to speak. This is a great contribution of Jain religion to the world.
Non-violence, therefore, begins with our words and in our minds. The words are the first external expressions of our thoughts. When we write books and articles, we are told that we should be honest and critical. We should say what we think of other people and their works.
R
M
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