Acharya Mahaprajna
The Science of Living consists in ahimsa and peace. He who doesn’t know the importance of peace and nonviolence in life will be unable to know the value of life. To understand life is difficult. It is not easy to realize the meaning and importance of life. Some people say that they begin to tremble even if they happen to tread on a tiny ant. They atone for the careless act, which has resulted in the loss of the life of an ant. Some come to me and say, “The door in our house was shut by mistake. A bird was trapped in the room and it died. We want to expiate for it.” They know the value of the life of a bird or even of an ant. This reveals one type of attitudinal state of human mind.
We come across another situation, which is divergently opposed to it. There are some people who blow off an entire bus. They plant a bomb and blast it. Not only this they even destroy a train or an airplane. Now let us compare the two situations. On the one hand there are people who value even the life of a tiny ant while on the other hand there are others for whom even a human being has no value.
Every life form that inhabits the planet is valuable - be it an ant, a bird, an elephant or a tiger even microbes and bacteria matter. The importance of biologically different life forms was highlighted for the first time at world environment conference at Rio-de-Janeriro in 1992. Now the preservation biodiversity is considered not only essential for our survival but also for ecological and environmental harmony. Now we hear the word ‘reverence for life’ too often at different forums. This concept was earlier confined to the Jain community alone. Those whose consciousness is awakened do not want to waste even a drop of water. They know the value of life and if on any day it is used indiscreetly it makes them feel guilty. Not only water but also the earth, trees - plants, vegetation and ants have life. We will have to understand their life, which is pranic energy. It is present in all living beings. We have no right to put an end to any life. In the ANUVRAT code of conduct there is a small vow (anuvrat) - ‘I will refrain from unnecessary violence.’ There are two words ‘necessary’ and ‘unnecessary’. We will have to think over them.
