What is intent-violence?

Where anger, pride, deceit, and greed exist, there Atma himsa (violence towards the state as the Self) is taking place, whereas that other is himsa towards insects. What is the meaning of bhaav himsa? The violence that happens towards Your own state as the Self; this anger, pride, deceit, and greed, they cause you [in the state as the relative self] to come into bondage, so have pity on yourself. The Lord has said to first maintain bhaav ahimsa (non-violent intent) towards Your own [state as the] Self and then to maintain bhaav ahimsa towards others.

To kill these small insects is called dravya himsa, whereas to hurt someone in a way that causes mental suffering, to get angry at someone, to get upset, all of that is considered himsak bhaav (violent intent); it is considered bhaav himsa. No matter how hard people try to practice ahimsa, ahimsa is not so easy to put into practice quickly. And the actual, real himsa is in fact anger, pride, deceit, and greed. Killing insects, killing male and female buffaloes is known as dravya himsa (violence that is happening in effect). That will simply carry on as per the laws of nature. No one has a say in that.

So what the Lord had said was, “First, ensure that you, yourself, do not engage in kashay (anger, pride, deceit, and greed).” This is because kashay is the gravest himsa. That is referred to as Atma himsa; it is referred to as bhaav himsa. If dravya himsa happens, then so be it, but do not allow bhaav himsa to happen. Instead, these people are preventing dravya himsa, but the bhaav himsa persists.

Therefore, if a person has decided, ‘I never want to kill,’ then no one will come to die at his hands. Now, on the one hand, he has stopped the overt himsa by deciding, ‘I do not want to kill any living being,’ however, if [on the other hand] he has decided to take advantage of others by using his intellect, then the ‘market’ [business of himsa] is certainly open. So then, the ‘moths’ [people] will come and collide with him, and that too is nothing but himsa, isn’t it!

Therefore, no living being should be tormented, no living being should be hurt to the slightest extent; there should be no himsa to the slightest extent towards any living being. Moreover, one should not even have the slightest negative opinion about any human being. If a [negative] opinion arises for even an enemy, then that is considered the gravest himsa. This himsa is graver than that of slaughtering a goat. Getting irritated with a family member is himsa that is graver than slaughtering a goat. This is because to get irritated is Atmaghat (violence towards the state as the Self). Whereas the death of the goat is a separate matter.

In addition to that, speaking negatively about people is equivalent to killing. Therefore, do not ever engage in speaking negatively about people. Never engage in speaking negatively about anyone whatsoever. That is nothing but himsa.

Furthermore, where there is partiality, there is himsa. Partiality means [the belief or intent that], ‘We are diff erent and you are different’; in doing this, there is himsa. On the other hand, such people go around ‘displaying a badge’ [proudly claiming], “We are an ahimsak group of people. We believe only in ahimsa.” But dear fellow, the number one himsa is this partiality. If just this much is understood, then it is more than enough. Hence, the message of the vitaraag Lords needs to be understood.