________________
preferable. There is neither an act that is entirely pure nor any that is entirely simple. In all acts, right or wrong, something of both prevails (Sekhar Vincent, 2000:172).
It also demonstrates the fact that a stage comes when the welfare of the sangha and the propagation of the faith become more important than the personal salvation of the individual. An individual does not then hesitate to do something for the sangha that he may never do for himself. His act is justified on the ground that the sangha is essential for the propagation of the only right path. Such an act also suggest the belief that the ends justifies the means, as against the basic ethical postulate that means are as important as the ends (Swami Brameshananda, 1992:249).
Therefore it appears from these quotes that there is a specific difference in the intentions and inclinations with which a weapon is used and their relationship to the injury caused. Two illustrations may elucidate this. A medical practioner using a knife in the operation theatre cuts an affected portion of the human body with the intention of saving the patient, whereas a thief, using the same knife, can use the same knife in the commission of a crime to steal from someone. The former act does not amount to himsā in the traditional sense, whereas the latter is considered a clear act of hiṁsā. As the pandits state:
For it is the intention that is the deciding factor, not the external act, which is inconclusive. From the real point of view, it is the evil intention, which is violence whether it materializes into an evil act of injuring, or not. There can be nonviolence even when an external act of violence has been committed and violence even when it has not been committed (cf.infra).
Jinadattasdri, writing at a time when the Moslem destruction of temples and interference with pilgrimage routes was causing the Jain community great trouble, stated bluntly, “in a manner more reminiscent of Islam itself, that anybody
28 For Private & Personal Use Only
Jain Education International
www.jainelibrary.org
