Acharya Umaswati
07.08 Pramattayogāt Prānvyaparopanam Hinsā
Audio: Sanskrit: प्रमत्तयोगात् प्राणव्यपरोपणं हिंसा ।
Hindi: प्रमत्तयोग से होनेवाला प्राणवध हिंसा है।
07.08
English: Deprival of life on account of non-vigilance constitutes violence. This sutra defines violence as deprival of life owing to non-vigilance. Non-vigilance covers negligence, wrong motive, etc. This definition may seem at variance with the concept that hurting of every sort, irrespective of the motive, constitutes violence. But that concept is not right. It is possible to conceive of cases where the apparent violence can be justified. Take, for instance, the case of a patient with a terminal tumor in stomach, which needs to be operated. It can happen that while the surgeon opens the stomach, the tumor may rupture and the patient may die. Opening the stomach in this case is the immediate cause of death and the surgeon is evidently instrumental in bringing it out. He would not, however, be blamed for that, because his intention was to remove the tumor, which was the real cause of death.
If, however, the patient would have died on account of the negligence or absence of precaution on the part of the surgeon, it would be termed as his Pramattayog (non-vigilance) and hence he could be held responsible for causing the death. It is therefore pertinent to state that deprival of life by virtue of negligence, non-vigilance, etc. constitutes violence.
