AHINSA -NONVIOLENCE

 The AHINSA in PATANJALI SUTRA YOGA is NON VIOLANCE .It is often discussed and misunderstood . What does exactly is meant by not doing violence. We have great examples of nonviolence in politics and then at the same time we have people who resorted to violence. Is the violence ever permitted or any violence is  justified .But first we have to define  what is violence . 

   The violence could be physical and also mental. Many a times lot of people don't know or think that mental action is violence. The violence can be done DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY. When some one eats meat - they may not have KILLED the animal by themselves, but it is still violence and they are responsible for the killing. I may not have cooked the food but it was cooked for me to eat and then I am responsible for that. The same holds true for actual beating of someone. I could beat someone which is very obviously violence . But I could give a contract for beating someone and it may be difficult or impossible for some one to trace that to me. But still I AM RESPONSIBLE . So the direct and indirect action if that leads to pain and suffering it is VIOLENCE. The same holds true for violence in thought . I feel that if we have bad thought-like someone needs to get some punishment or beating -that is a violence even though  there was no physical beating. If we have a transient thought of beating someone and do not dwelt on it and do repeated thinking of physical violence then the effecet is minimal or none. But if we continue to think of the SAME THOUGH over and again , then it has an effecet and gthat is violence and a bad karma.

     If there is bad speech by which we we insult someone or encourage violence against some one , it is violence even though we have not done physical violence  ourselves. 

   So in defining violence - we say KAYA-VACHA- MANA- BODY- SPEECH- MIND -one must not do violence.