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108
Faina Ethics
“The wheel of different view-points (nayacakra) is extremely sharp-edged and difficult to ward off; when it is used by misguided intellect it cuts off one's own head quickly."l Hence avoidance of external violence is as necessary as the aviodance of feelings of attachment or aversion.
From practical point of view, any kind of injury to any of the ten vitalities of a living being is violence. These ten vitalities are five senses : three powers of mind, speech and body; age and respiration. Violence thus includes not only killing or physical injury but also curtailing the freedom of thought and speech of others. None should be forced to do anything against his wish. Thus it would be wrong to restrict non-violence only to the limited field of non-injury to living beings; it should also be extended to the higher plane of independence of thought and speech, which is the very basis of democracy and free society.
Amrtacandra has shown the importance of the intention of the agent. He has pointed out that, on account of intensity or mildness of passions, trifling violence may yield serious results and grievous violence may yield trifling results. 3 Thus the same violent action may yield different results on account of variation in the intensity of passion. Sometimes violence leads to benefits of non-violence and non-violence to the harms of violence.5
Non-absolutism and non-violence
When we extend non-violence from respect for life to respect for thought, we are automatically led to non-absolutism. That is why non-absolutism is held as important as non-violence by Jaina thinkers. All statements or points of view are relative and, therefore, every one of them has a grain of truth. Every object has complex nature and unity can be found in diversity. Given two contradictory statements, it is not necessary to reject one of them, for the
1. Puruşärthasiddhyupāya, 59. 2. Ganin, Siddhasena on Tattvärthasútra, Surat, 1930, 7.8. 3. Puruşarthasiddhyupāya, 52. 4. Ibid., 53. 5. Ibid., 57.
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