So, when we are in any state in which we
do not exercise care and caution, and in that state we tear asunder (to
pieces) any of these life forces, then we kill. This can be done also in
the hell state, only the forces come together again after separation; the
pain of the separation is felt.
The next thing to know is, which
particular forms of killing can be refrained from by the persons in this
fifth stage of development, because he cannot refrain from all forms. The
various ways in which life is destroyed, can be learned by observation of
people's conduct; but a few may be mentioned here:
1. Hunting, shooting and
fishing.
2. Vivisection.
3. For dress: Skins,
feathers, etc.
4. For food: fish, game,
meat, etc.
5. In war.
6. For private revenge.
7. For so-called
religious purposes: sacrifices, for instance.
8. Insects, flies, etc.,
because we think they trouble us.
9. Capital punishment.
10. Self-defense, etc.
It may be added here that, according to
the Jain view, a king may fight in self-defense, as will be seen later on,
under the first vow.
If we analyst the state of mind of a
person who is hunting for sport, we find three factors,
1. an absence of thought
of the pain and harm he is inflicting on the innocent creatures;
2. he is entirely taken
up with his own pleasure;
3. he has no feeling for
the pain and suffering of the animals. Thus we find thoughtlessness,
selfishness, and heartlessness.
Vivisection is done to gain certain
physiological knowledge. We have no right to gain knowledge at the expense
of other living beings, and further, our lack of knowledge is due to some
unnatural activities in us (karma), and if we remove it, we shall have the
knowledge, without injuring the living beings; and injuring these in
vivisection is not the way to remove the knowledge-obscuring "Karma". In
the Jain idea of morality, relations with all living beings are
considered, and not merely relationships with man.
Now, from the point of view of the
protection a layman can afford to life, living beings can be divided into:
1. Those that can move
from place to place.
2. Stationary living
beings, such as trees, vegetables, etc.
The layman cannot take a vow to remain
from killing the latter. And to compare the protection to life afforded by
a layman with that afforded by a monk, we may represent full protection by
the number 16, so in this first division the layman's protection covers,
roughly speaking, only half the living beings, and can therefore be
represented by the figure 8.
Now, taking moving living beings, how much
protection can the layman give to these? There is destroying them with
determined intention, where he thinks, "I want to kill them, and I am
killing them." There is killing them in household and personal matters,
cooking, digging, foundations, etc. The layman cannot refrain from the
later kind, and so, again, the protection he can afford to living being is
reduced to 4.
How much can he avoid killing moving
living beings with determined intention? These may be either innocent or
guilty, so far as the layman's interests are concerned. He cannot say he
will not kill the guilty ones. A lion, if he attacks you, is guilty; so is
a burglar. Again, the figure is reduced to 2.
Therefore, disregarding the guilty, we
must consider only the innocent. Men, when they kill innocent living
beings intentionally, do so either without a necessary cause, or else for
a special necessary cause. The layman cannot undertake to refrain from the
intentional killing of innocent beings, when there is a necessary cause
for doing it. So, again, the figure is halved, and the protection which a
layman can undertake to afford to life is, in comparison with that
afforded by the monk, as 1 is to 16.
The layman, then, can undertake to refrain
from intentionally killing innocent moving living beings, when he has no
necessary cause for killing them. So the first vow of the layman would be
: I shall not without a necessary purpose kill with determined intention a
moving living being when it is innocent.
INCIDENTAL
Virtues and vices are states of the
individual, and can never be transmitted or transferred from one person to
another. Each person develops his own state of virtue, just as he develops
his own knowledge. We cannot impart virtue; we cannot impart knowledge. By
talking to a person, we supply the means whereby he can develop knowledge.
PARTIAL TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE
FIRST VOW
As was the case with the thirty-five rules
of conduct, so with these twelve special rules, the practice of them is
internal as well as external; and in the partial transgressions given
below, it is the internal practice of the rules that is broken, while in
the external way the rule or vow is not broken. In all these vows, the
chief ideas are partial self-control, and love, and in the partial
transgressions, now to be given, this self-control and kindliness are
absent.
1. Angrily or carelessly
tying up an animal or a human being. When tying up is absolutely
necessary, it should be done so that in case of fire the animal can
quickly be undone, and the human being can undo himself. As a matter of
fact, the Jain philosophy teaches that a person who practices these vows,
ought not to keep such animals as have to be tied up.
2. Unnecessarily striking
or beating or whipping; or doing so on a delicate or tender part of the
body.
3. Cutting or piercing,
without a necessary cause. Docking horses' tails would come under this
heading.
4. Overloading an animal
or person, through greed or any reason but extreme necessity.
5. Withholding food or
drink, without a real necessary reason.
There are other ways in which this first
vow may be partially transgressed, but the above five ways are given as
illustrations.
FRUITS
It is the opinion of the Jain Philosophy
that the result of the observance of this vow is good health, a strong
body, and a strong constitution in the future life. No separation from
friends, relatives, or parents. There would be happiness, the legitimate
pleasures of life, comforts, long life; he will have a good name, handsome
features, and an enjoyable youth.
The results of killing would be the
opposite of these things, such as lameness, some incurable disease,
separation from friends and relatives, sorrow, short life, and after that,
an incarnation in a low state (animal or hell).
