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BANERJEE : JAINISM AND NON-VIOLENCE
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The feelings of Mahāvīra towards all kinds of animals are acute and severe. He is confident enough to assert the fact that all lives have the feelings of pleasure and pain and so they should be saved from injury. Manu once said that antaḥ samjñā bhavantyete sukha-duḥkha
samanvitāḥ (Ch I.) The same idea is also reflected in the Sūtrakstānga in a very emphatic tone :
savvāhim aṇujuttihim matimam paờilehiyā / savve akkanta-dukkhā ya ao savvee na himsayā //
(I. 11.9) "A wise man should study them with all means of philosophical research. All beings hate pain; therefore one should not kill them."
eyam khu nāņiņo sāram jam na-himsai kimcaņa / ahimsā samayam ceva eyāvantam vijānīyā //
(I. 11.10)
“This is the quintessence of wisdom : not to kill anything. Know this to be the legitimate conclusion from the principle of reciprocity with regard to non-killing."
From all these passages of ahimsā quoted above what Mahāvīra wants to emphasize is the fact that "we must not be goaded by the passions and impulses of himsā. But, to all intents and purposes, we must control our mind to allow us to grow stronger mentally, so that our life can become severe, pure and holy. This does not mean that we should not enjoy life to its fullest extent, but that enjoyment should not be of a beastly type, but of a divine nature. It must not transgress the purity and serenity of life and of dharma. It should be noted that the basic idea of ahimsā is not to control the outward events of one's life, but to control the inward temper in which he faces these events. So the practice of ahimsă will teach us how to preserve a purely inward integrity and balance of mind, and how to conquer the world from a world both hostile
