________________
CHAPTER SEVEN
of defilement. Thus when the refined attitude of non-violence gained currency in the midst of a society accustomed to violence and consequently when the thought pertaining to the matter underwent development, then it was not deemed sufficient that violence be defined as mere deprivation of life but an important element in the form of pramattayoga or 'act involving negligence' was superadded to the proposed definition.
263
Question: In connection with the above definition of violence the question arises whether deprivation of life taking place in the absence of an act of negligence is or is not a case of violence. Similarly, the question is whether when deprivation of life does not take place but an act of negligence is present there we have or do not have a case of violence. And if, both these are actual cases of violence then a further question is whether they are cases of violence born of an act of negligence or of violence of some other sort.
Answer: A mere deprivation of life, being a gross state of affairs, is certainly violence of a visible sort while a mere act of negligence, being a subtle state of affairs, is something invisible. But besides this difference as to being visible or otherwise there is another important difference between the two, and it is on this latter difference that it depends whether a case of violence is or is not a case of defilement. Thus as viewed outwardly deprivation of life is certainly a case of violence but it is not necessary that it must be a case of defilement; for its character of being a defilement is not dependent on itself. In the case of violence its being a difilement depends on the mental feeling of the person indulging in violence; hence this its character is dependent on soemething other than itself. If the mental feeling in question is itself evil then the deprivation of life resulting from it is a case of defilement; but if this mental feeling is not of that kind then this deprivation of life is not a case of defilement. Hence it is that in the technical terminology such violence not of the form of a defilement is called dravya himsa-that is, formal violence-or vyāvahārika hiṁsā-that is, violence practically speaking. Dravya himsā or vyāvahārika himsā only means violence whose character
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
