Book Title: Jains Through Time
Author(s): Shilapi Sadhvi
Publisher: Veerayatan

Previous | Next

Page 102
________________ iscussions about violence and non-violence have been going on since ancient times. Every great thinker to date has examined this issue minutely yet no comprehensive or categorical definition of non-violence or violence has been found, neither has their essence been unequivocally revealed. Non-violence is the highest pinnacle of Jain philosophy. Every facet of the Jain path of spiritual purification comprises non-violence. Countless religious texts have been written on it, and its every aspect has been analysed in detail. 0000 The important thing to understand about the concept of nonviolence is that, so long as there is life, violence is implicit in our every act. We commit violence in walking; there is violence in eating and drinking. There are microscopic creatures on the ground that are obliterated with our every step. Similarly there are tiny creatures suspended in the air, invisible to the naked eye, that are destroyed as our bodies move about. Our every breath kills some little creature. In every organ of our body, in our very blood, flesh and bones and in all our bodily fluids, a myriad microbes live and die by the second. In this situation we need to ask how we can observe the practice of non-violence, and prevent ourselves from committing violence. Jain tradition answers this question in terms of dravya-himsa (an external or physical act of violence), and bhavhimsa (being violent from within). If the seeker is aware, can discriminate between the two, remains non-violent from within and is totally free of a violent attitude, he will still be called a nonviolent person even in the face of dravya-himsa. This dravya-himsa without bhav-himsa is himsa (violence) merely in appearance. Such an act of violence does not bring with it the bondage of negativekarma. In this way, since the mind is free of a violent attitude, though dravya-himsa has occurred, the practice of non-violence itself remains intact. w ubra

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282