Jain Aagam Sutrakritanga - Book 1 Chapter 1 Lesson 1 Sutra 3
Aagam Sutra
Original
सयं तिवायए पाणे, अदुवा अण्णेहिं घायए ।
हणंतं वाऽणुजाणाइ, वेरं वड्ढेइ अप्पणो ॥
Transliteration
sayaṃ tivāyae pāṇe, aduvā aṇṇehiṃ ghāyae ।
haṇaṃtaṃ vā'ṇujāṇāi, veraṃ vaḍḍhei appaṇo ॥
Meaning
One who himself/herself kills the animals or causes others to harm them or approves of the killers (slaughterers) increases his/her own enmity.
Glossary
- सयं
- self
- तिवायए
- kills, beats
- पाणे
- living beings; animals
- अदुवा
- or
- अण्णेहिं
- by others
- घायए
- harms
- हणंतं
- killer, slaughterer
- वाऽणुजाणाइ,
- or aproves
- Sandhi of वा + अणुजाणाइ (approve)
- वेरं
- enmity, animosity, rancour
- वड्ढेइ
- increases
- अप्पणो
- of self
Explanation
Intuitively, killing is bad. ❌ Whether you yourself kill someone or cause others to do it, it is still bad. This everyone agrees upon.
But what's strange is that despite common consensus towards not killing anyone, there still exists majority of people who kill to eat. Fortunately, the number of people adopting vegetarianism and even veganism is rising globally 💚.
Back to the sutra. Note that the sutra doesn’t talk of any sin or any such abstract concept. It says kill (or cause to kill) and you will increase your enmity. Why? Because no living being wants to be killed. If you kill it, naturally it is not going to like it and project its helpless anger towards you.
So, why is it bad? After all the animal is dead; what can it do now? That’s a wrong question to ask because it is not about revenge. Irrespective of what the animal can or cannot do, you have tarnished your soul; you have become a killer. A soul heavy with such karmic bondage of enmity cannot be free.
So do not kill anyone not only because it is bad inherently, but also because killing will hamper your goal of soul’s liberation.