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THE COMMON WELFARE
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cept of identity between the self and the self is non-violence Where to be, alone is there, the question of identity and difference does not arise On this plane only to be is true On the plane of individuality Mahavira's logic is different He says 'Kill no creature'
The age of Mahavira was marked by ritualistic sacrifices The Brahmins freely supported the ritualistic violence Their doctrine was that a killing of creatures in the service of religion is innocent To eradicate such an injury the Lord induced the reflection on one's own self Said he, 'Pray, let me know whether you shun pleasure or pain?'
None would claim to shun pleasure Such a self-evident falsity none can say They said, 'We shun pain' The Lord added, 'As you shun pain, so do other creatures The loss of life is the greatest fear in the world Why then do you garb violence in non-violence? Why rationalise violence by spiritual subterfuge?'
In this idiom of non-dualism, the killer is not different from the killed They have the same virtue, notwithstanding their separate identity viz aversion to pain Observing this common characteristic would quench all urge to violence
In olden days Panchayats or Community-courts were there in vogue Their judgments were as effective as that of a judical court A man was indicted of stealing his neighbour's buffalo The members of the community-court sat in a bench They seated the accused before themselves He did not admit the charge They chose to adjudicate by the orthodox method of hot pan The red hot frying-pan was to be put over his palm If the palm was not charred the accused was to be acquitted, else convicted The accused agreed to the procedure
A member of the bench stood and began to put the hot pan with a pair of tongs over the palm of the accused The latter however withdraw his hand The member of the bench rebuked him Said the accused, 'Please don't rebuke me Your hand is my hand Your pair of tongs is my pair of tongs
