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THE JAINA GAZETTE man fights against a wild beast to save himself, they are said to commit virodhini himsa or injury in self defence. During the discharge of our household duties, many small lives are killed everytime. This is spoken of as arambhini himsa. Even in the carrying on of professions such as agriculture, trade etc. himsa is committed. This is technically called udyogini himsa. An ascetic should be free from every kind of himsa but it is not possible for a layman to be so. He has to live in a family, follow some profession and safe guard himself and his dependents. So it is not possible for him to be entirely free from kimsa arising from the above three actions. But he must not commit any himsa intentionally by thought, word or deed. He should do a busines8 that does not necessitate the wilful killing of any kind of living being.
A person who desires to practise Ahimsa should give up the following :
1. Flesh-eating. It is impossible to get flesh without killing animals. Doctors have proved that flesh-eating is an unnatural, unnecessary and injurious habit. The more the people abstain from flesh-eating the lesser will be the number of lives killed. If there will be no flesh-eaters, there will be no killing for the sake of food.
2. Hunting. Some people take delight in shooting animals and birds for the sake of fun. They go to the jungles, terrify the beasts and birds in several ways, make them run and fly about and then shoot them from a safe distance. When the victims fall and suffer from death agonies, our friends laugh at them and enjoy the miserable sight. How would our friends like the idea of their being hunted and shot at in this way? If the barbarous habit of hunting will be stopped thousands of the useful animals and birds will continue to live happily and beautify nature.
(3) Killing for the sake of ornamentation. Many lives are killed for the sake of ornamentation, under the false belief that all animals and birds are created for the sake of man. If a man-eater can speak to us in our own language he will
certainly say that man was created for his sake. Rabbits, Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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