Acharya Tulsi
Man causes violence. It is his nature. It is believed by some people. A living creature is dependent on other living creatures. Based on this notion stricken by the fear of death he gets involved in violence. Man cannot live without violence;this view can only be true to a certain extent. But violence is not his nature, like violence false speech, theft, tendency to accumulate, attachment to hedonistic pleasures and so on are also not human nature. They must be considered as external traits. These traits must be considered external. These external traits are more like diseases and the natural self is health. The problem arises when a man, considers this natural-self as something artificial and considers artificial as natural. Therefore he cannot discriminate between health and disease.
When a person gets ill at the physical plane then he visits a doctor. He diagnoses the disease and starts treating. When there is a right diagnosis medicine, proper treatment, amiable behaviour of the doctor and awareness of the restriction on the patient’s part then the disease can be easily cured. Those who are unable "to realize the disease, do not get treated, remain unaware of the instructions and do not take medicines, how they could hope to be healthy.
Violence is a Disease
Violence is a mental disease. Its relation is with karmas (action) and values. One who gets affected by this disease becomes unnecessarily arrogant or vindictive. Sometime in the name of entertainment he descends into the field of unnecessary violence, Sometimes influenced by the taste buds he starts killing birds and animals. Sometimes influenced by the feeling of revenge he kills someone. Sometimes led by his inner insecurity also he gets into violence.
This mental state of violence cannot be treated unless it is considered as disease. If someone remains ignorant of the disease then who will treat him? In the field of education, business, and politics and in almost every field increasing violence can be controlled by an efficient doctor.
Violence is increasing at a rapid pace because as per rules its training is being continued. Is there any training available for non- violence? Who would be the trainers of non-violence? What materials could be used for it? Such questions need to be thought upon judiciously. As far as I am concerned, the training of non-violence cannot be provided through the medium of books. Books can help us to gain knowledge concerning it but it can never be a part and parcel of life. As long as non-violence is not initialized properly the disease of violence can never be cured.
Need of Research and Application Along with Training
The training of non-violence has been understood. If the two factors are added before and after it, then the method of training would be complete in itself. These two factors are—research and application. As long as new researches are not conducted on non-violence its power and glory would not be established. Scientists conduct researches over small atoms and establish or prove their importance. Now-a-days people ‘consider non-violence as armour of the cowards. Non-violent person are ridiculed at. Why? The reason is simple. In ancient religious scriptures the glory of non-violence that had been sung, has it ever been made a subject of research? Non- violence brings welfare for every living creature, if this factor would have been proved by researches then violence would not have got the opportunity to prove it supremacy.
After the factor of research the training comes next. What is non- violence? How much strength does it carry? What is its utility? How can it be utilized? What are its possible consequences? If such points are placed forward and the practical training of all these factors go on then non-violence can be alchemy to transform one’s life.
After training, application comes next. No matter how much tasty and nourishing the food is, unless and until it is utilized, it fails to prove its quality. No matter how high the principle is, unless it is utilized, it will be of no use. Non-violence is our mother. The entire humanity can rest in peace under its shade. But it can be possible only when it is used in the form of equilibrium, friendship, fearlessness, tolerance and so on. Non-violence’s research, training and application—these three factors have life giving power, when such faith is established then only non-violence can have a great influence.
Who will become the Trainer of Non-Violence?
To establish non-violence in human life the importance of its training is felt. The question arises here who will be trainer of it? For this we need to seek such persons who are naturally non-violent or by dint of long practice have become non-violent. As an example Mahatma Gandhi could be presented. The people who went to him and stayed near him could automatically get a glimpse of non-violence. The people who read his biography know how sincerely he had led a life of non-violence.
Gandhi ji used to brush his teeth every day. To brush his teeth, breaking the entire branch of a tree appeared undesirable to him. He pointed out this flaw with his fingers to the other members of his Ashram and made them aware. To wash his hands he would use very limited water. He felt the pang whenever he saw someone wasting a lot of water for the job which could be done with a limited supply of water. If his bed needed to be shifted he would take care if any tiny life was not caused harm. The slab of stone that he used to wash his feet if it would be lost by mistake then, also his heart would rend. Gandhi’s life includes many such relevant facts that prove his spirituality and his sincerity for non-violence. A person who lives up to the ideals of non-violence this way can only be entitled to preach or train non-violence.
Mahavira’s Perspective in the Context of Non-Violence
Pursuing Mahatma Gandhi’s biography it seems that he took the entire lesson of non-violence from Mahavira. He said-
पुढविंनखणेनखणवए,
सीओदगंनपिएनपियावए|
अगणिसत्यं हा सुनिसियं,
तं न जले न जलवए जे स भिक्खु||[To dig earth or make someone dig earth is violence. To drink shitodak (cold water) or to offer someone shitodak is violence. To light a fire resembling the tip of a spear is violence. One who refrains from such violence is a true Bhikshu (monk).]
Lord Mahavira, like earth and water, also regarded fanning orcausing harm to vegetation and killing tiny creatures as violence. If the people exploiting nature get inspired by Mahavira’s teaching then- non-violence can have a little effect on their life. But it is really strange that the followers of Mahavira have not been able to create a system where non-violence could be trained. This is the reason why even in Jain community on some special occasion some fruits and vegetables are given the shape of birds and animals and decoration accordingly. The vegetarian food is given such a form that creates an illusion of its being non-vegetarian. It unnecessarily includes violence. Therefore, in the training of non-violence such practical matters must also be incorporated so that the, future generation of our nation can realize the essence-of non-violence.
It is difficult but not impossible
Some people think the idea of training non-violence is truly good but quite difficult at the same time. Whatever is trained can never be an easy task. Where is the training of violence easy? Had it been easier, then during lndo-China war India would have not been defeated. Indian soldiers were not well-trained to combat extreme cold at the summit of high mountains so as a result they were defeated. When they eventually got trained they got habituated to survive in that kind of climate.
As far as I am concerned, the training of non-violence is difficult, but it is not so difficult that it can never be mastered. The question here is of reliability. At first this faith needs to be created that non- violence is a power. With practice that power can be achieved, augmented and can be utilized.
Training of non-violence will completely erase violence from the world, is an exaggeration. End of violence means the end of the world. As long as there is world, human beings will carry some negative traits like anger, sexuality and so on. Violence can never be erased completely but its influence can be reduced. The effectively of this training of non-violence lies in the fact that the different faces of violence that are all set to nibble the human qualities can be diffused.
Who causes violence? In this context Mahavira’s statements can be quoted. In ‘Ayaro’ a violent person’s description has been presented—‘अटटेलोएपरिजुण्णे, दुस्संबोहेअविजाणए'—A human being who clings to this mundane existence, who is affected with anomalies concerning property and so on, gets involved with violence. One, who is worn out, stricken with poverty, has a keen desire to acquire materials but is deprived of them he treads on the path of violence. One who hankers for relationships but even with effort that doesn’t get into relationships? One who lacks understanding and fails to understand facts he gets involved in violence. It veers around the same point that is a person who is keen to get something and is unhealthy cause’s violence. To save him from violence he needs to be made healthy from mental point of view. The only way to get healthy is to go through the training of non-violence. The training of it is not merely confined to giving advice but is related to behaviour. Don’t cause violence, this is an advice. The day when human beings get over unnecessary violence and ruthlessness and change their behaviour then only the training of non-violence would become meaningful.
