Why is there such a great emphasis on protecting life forms from fear?

Explaining the principle of nature, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “You have the right to kill the living being you can create. If you are not able to make it, if you are not able to create it, then you do not have the right to kill it. You can make this chair, so you can destroy the chair. You can make cups and saucers, so you can destroy them. But you have no right to destroy whatever you cannot create.” In this single sentence, He draws the boundary of what is within a human being’s rightful domain. Any harmful act committed beyond this limit inevitably brings dangerous effects of violence and liability.

Violence ultimately brings suffering to oneself

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says that there is no weakness greater than violence. All suffering in the world arises only from violence.

He explains the major risks of violence in a single powerful sentence:

Questioner: People are greatly inclined towards himsa, so what should be done to turn them towards ahimsa?

Dadashri: You should give them the [right] understanding. If you give them the [right] understanding, then they will turn towards ahimsa. Give them this understanding, “Dear fellow, God resides within every living being. Thus, if you kill any living being, then it will be hurt immensely, and you will incur a liability for that. And this will in turn give rise to an avaran (a veil of ignorance over the Knowledge of the Self) for you, and you will have to regress terribly towards a lower life-form.” If you explain it to them in this way, then they will understand. “By killing other living beings, even the intellect deteriorates.” Do you give anyone such understanding?

When any living being is hurt through our mind, speech, or body, two faults arise as consequences of violence. First, a veil covers the Soul as a result of causing suffering to another, and the light of one’s intellect diminishes. Just as a stain on spectacles or grease on a car windshield prevents clear vision; when the glass is cleaned, we can see clearly again. In the same way, when a veil covers the Soul, the illumination of one’s understanding diminishes.

A person who causes suffering or harm to others through violence can never appear truly happy; a natural radiance never arises on such a person’s face. This is because within every living being resides the Soul, God is present within. When we cause them suffering, that suffering returns to us in the form of a reaction.

Diseases such as skin infections that form boils, or illnesses like pneumonia in which a person may pass away within a few days, all of these arise as consequences of harming living beings and causing them suffering through violence. If a cat, dog, or any such animal was beaten and, even though it barely survived, we felt no compassion or remorse for having harmed it, then as a consequence of that act, incurable diseases arise in the body.

To endure the effects of violence, one must also fall into lower life-forms, where terrifying suffering is experienced.

The consequences of deliberate violence are even more painful

At times, violence toward living beings occurs knowingly and at times unknowingly. Of the two, the consequences of deliberate violence are far more painful.

For example, say two friends are walking along the road. Two insects are also moving along the path. One friend accidentally steps on a cockroach. The other friend sees this and becomes so irritated that he deliberately crushes the second cockroach with his shoe and kills it.

Now, although the two cockroaches died and the outward action appears the same, the demerit karma bound by each person is not the same. Let us take an example to understand what the result of this might look like. Suppose that in the next life both are born to the same mother as two sons. The one who deliberately crushed the cockroach is born as the elder son, about five years old, and the one who killed the cockroach by mistake is born as the younger son, about six months old. Now, at that time, their mother passes away.

Both brothers receive the effect of violence in one sense they both lose their mother. But the difference lies in the degree of their suffering. The elder son, who had deliberately crushed the cockroach, has the understanding and awareness that his mother has passed away. Therefore, he must endure this result with much crying and emotional pain. The younger son, on the other hand, has no understanding of what has happened, so he does not experience much suffering.

In short, the result of violence always brings suffering. But the suffering from deliberate violence is experienced with full awareness, while the suffering from unintentional violence is endured without such awareness.

Risk of violence based on the other being’s suffering

When any living being is killed, the demerit karma bound depends on how much suffering that being experiences. For example, plucking grass results in a smaller amount of demerit, more demerit is bound when a mosquito is killed. And an even greater demerit is bound when a four-footed animal is killed, and the greatest demerit is bound when a human being is killed.

Therefore, one should never cause suffering to a human being. The point here is that, while walking the path of non-violence, nothing major should remain overlooked while focusing on the minor. Even though harming one-sensed beings carries less demerit, one should not use that as an excuse to carelessly cut trees or pluck leaves indiscriminately. But more danger lies in causing suffering to human beings. When we become angry at someone or irritated with them, their ego is hurt, and they experience deep pain and emotional suffering.

Violence creates vengeance

The very moment one forms the intent to kill any living being, a subtle inner crime is committed, and one begins to suffer internally. On top of that, there is also the danger that the other being forms vengeance toward us. This is one of the dangerous effects of violence that we commit.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says that, “It has all the tools ready to give you the repayment for the karma that you have bound. So if you want to attain freedom from this world, from these miseries, then someone may hurt you, but you should not hurt them in return. Otherwise, if you hurt a person even slightly, then in your next life, that person will not refrain from avenging that hurt in thousands of ways, he may be reborn as a snake and bite you. In this world, it is not worth increasing vengeance even in the slightest. And whatever miseries come one’s way, they are a result of the problems caused to others, a result of the hurt caused to others; the miseries that come one’s way are indeed a result of that! Otherwise, there would be no misery in this world.”

To understand how violence creates vengeance, let us look at an incident from the life of Lord Mahavir.

In one of His previous lives as King Tripushtha, Lord Mahavir had molten lead poured into a guard’s ears. This was because, despite being instructed, the guard, immersed in the melody of music, did not stop the musicians after the king had fallen asleep. The king awoke from the noise, his anger flared, and he ordered molten lead to be poured into the guard’s ears, causing the guard to die in extreme agony. Because the king committed this act out of hatred and a wounded ego, he first had to go to hell to suffer its consequences. But the vengeance that the guard formed at that time was carried forward and ultimately came back to be repaid in the lifetime of Lord Mahavir Himself. That same guard’s Soul was later born as a cowherd. One day, seeing Lord Mahavir standing in meditation, the cowherd asked Him to watch over his cows while he stepped away for some work. But the absolutely detached Lord was immersed in meditation, and the cows wandered off. When the cowherd returned and couldn’t find the cows, in a fit of rage, he drove sharp spikes into Lord Mahavir’s ears, and those spikes caused intense pain in the Lord’s ears for many days. When a physician pulled those spikes out of His ears, even the Lord cried out in pain. Thus, the result of causing suffering to a living being comes in two ways - first, one must endure the demerit karma; and second, the other being eventually returns to settle the vengeance. Even the Lord Himself could not escape the repayment of such vengeance.

The danger of anumodan when violence is not opposed

If mute animals are being slaughtered around us, or cruelty is being inflicted upon them, we should voice our opposition. If violence is taking place and we do not try to stop it, then it is considered giving anumodana (encouragement) to that violence. The danger that arises from this is explained in the following question and answer from a satsang with Param Pujya Dadashri.

Questioner: But is it right to give importance to this kind of subtle violence, as opposed to physical violence such as cruelty done to helpless animals, by slaughtering them, or by exploiting them for the purpose of acquiring meat and other materials for our consumption? Or is it considered appropriate to maintain neutrality towards this horrendous violence, thus supporting this violence?

Dadashri: It is not considered appropriate. You should definitely oppose that. By not opposing it, you are supporting it; you are on either one of the sides. If you are not opposing it, then you are supporting it. So no matter who one may be, even if one is a Gnani (One who is Self-realized), one must show opposition to it. Otherwise, it counts as supporting it.

Questioner: Can we become a limit in stopping the himsa against animals, birds or anything else, for whom the himsa has come into effect in their unfolding karma?

Say someone is walking along a path and due to his unfolding karma, he bumps into something and hurts his leg. And you happen to be passing by over there, so you should get out of your car, bandage his wound using the cloth from your own clothes, and then drop him home. It doesn’t matter if it has happened due to the unfolding of his karma, but you should show empathy for him. Otherwise, you will become bound by the intent contrary to that, and you will not become free. This world is not such that it will let you off.

Questioner: For those interested in making spiritual progress, is it necessary for them to make an effort towards stopping himsa? If it is necessary, then can you please give some advice on this?

Dadashri: For those who are interested in making spiritual progress, if they don’t make an effort to stop himsa, then that is considered as encouraging himsa. If they don’t make an effort to stop himsa, then that is considered as supporting himsa. So all spiritual aspirants should make an effort to stop himsa from happening.

Questioner: Why does one not think about preventing grave physical violence under such circumstances?

Dadashri: It is especially important to prevent physical violence. You should make other efforts for that. If you all get together, organize groups, and elect people to represent your cause in the government, then this will yield very good results. Everyone needs to nurture the intent [of preventing violence] and the intent needs to be strengthened and encouraged.

Questioner: But Dada, ultimately this is all part of the karmic account, isn’t it?

Dadashri: Yes, it is a karmic account. But you can say that it is a karmic account after it has happened. If you say it is a karmic account [beforehand], then everything will be ruined. If so-called ‘ascetics’ were to come to your village and abduct children, even then you would say, “Catch them and put a stop to this!” If someone were to kidnap your own children, if someone were to abduct them, how much suffering would you feel? Similarly, when cows, buffaloes and other animals are slaughtered, you should feel deep sorrow over that and you should oppose that act. Otherwise, that task [effort to prevent himsa] would never be accomplished, would it! You cannot sit around and do nothing. You may regard it as the unfolding of karma, but even the Lord did not regard it as such. Even the Lord expressed opposition to this. So you should express your opposition to it, you should unite against it, and you should oppose it. Truly speaking, you are not really opposing the himsa; rather, it is your ahimsak bhaav (non-violent intent)!

Risk of violence according to one’s inner intent

When we oppose violence to prevent it, there are still some situations in which violence becomes unavoidable. In such actions, both the one who performs the violence and the one who instructs or supports it incur karmic liability. At such times, if we wish to avoid the karmic effects of violence, our inner intent must be firmly against the violence. For karma is bound according to our inner intent.

Suppose there is a heavy infestation of flies or mosquitoes in our residential area, and the municipal workers come and spray chemicals everywhere, causing many insects to die. The act itself does bind karma as violence. At that time, we should reflect that just as humans would suffer if bombs were dropped on them, these insects must be suffering when this chemical is sprayed on them. So when the municipal workers have no choice but to do this, we should maintain the inner intent that “This should not have to happen.”

Now, the municipal workers are simply the ones carrying out the task. Who instructs them to do this work? Those in authority, the officers. Therefore, the one who orders the action incurs even greater karmic liability. Moreover, if we, as residents, had complained and requested official action, which then compelled them to spray the chemicals, we too incur a share of the liability. In such circumstances, whatever role we find ourselves in, if we do not wish to incur violence, we should state, “Brother, I do not want this. I am not in favor of this.” Then the responsibility no longer remains with us. The karmic liability falls upon the one who wishes for the action to be carried out.

Suppose a rat or a pigeon has fallen into a water tank and died. To remove it and to have the tank cleaned by spraying disinfectant is a compulsory task. It must be done and in such a case, both the one who performs the action and the one who orders it incur karmic fault. However, we should not hold the inner intent of violence. Our inner opinion must remain that no living being should be harmed.