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DHARMA IN PRACTICE.
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nirvậna, the practising of absolute ahimsa becomes easy and natural to him. There is no absurdity in this, for the development of the soul, under the influence of tapa, brings into manifestation its latent occult and psychic forces which enable it to defy all sorts of adverse influences, such as hunger, thirst, sickness, oldage and death, that lead one to the commission of all conceivable kinds of injury to others. The layman should try to refrain from all those pursuits and occupations, such as cutting down forests, working as a blacksmith and the like, which involve a wholesale destruction of life, though he may not be able to avoid all forms of himså at once. He need entertain no fear of the business of the world coming to a stand-still by his abstaining from these avocations, since there are a sufficient number of abhavya jivas* to carry them on and to insure the continuance of the world. These are they who have not the potentiality to understand the truth. It is not that their souls are any different from those of the bhavya (the antithesis of abhavya), but their karmas are of such a malignant type that they can never long for the truth or grasp it when put before them. They shall never attain nirvana, but always remain entangled in the samsára.
The man who longs for the joy of Gods must prepare himself for the practising of absolute ahims by a steady course of training. He should begin with abstaining from causing unnecessary injury to all kinds of beings having more than one sense. With respect to
* Those who may never attain emancipation,
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