| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| A SUPPLEMENT - THE CONFLICT BETWEEN DIVINE AND DEMONIC TENDENCIES |
| Then
Visvamitra would have said, "I would rather die than commit
violence." For the experiment of ending violence through
violence had already been attempted. Now this much had been clearly
accepted that they would not give up their own non-violence. If they
could not find a kshatriya, they would prefer to die. To that
extent the ground had been prepared. In the Aranyakanda of
the Ramayana, there is an episode.
Walking in the Dandaka forest, Rama asks, "What are these heaps?" The rishis answer, "These heaps are made up of the bones of Brahmins, of non-violent Brahmins. When the violent rakshasas attacked them, they did not resist. They lost their lives. It is their bones that are piled up here. "In this non-violence one sees the self-sacrifice of the Brahmins; but, at the same time, they had a wish that others would protect them. Where there is such weakness, non-violence cannot teach perfection. 11. In later times, good men went further and tried a third method. They resolved, "We shall never seek the help of the others to save ourselves. Our ahimsa is enough to protect us. That is the only true defense." But this experiment was conducted, on the individual plane. They perfected this individual method, but it stopped with the individual. If violent men attacked society and men went and appealed to those saints and asked, "What shall we do now?" it is doubtful whether they would have given a definite answer. These saints, who had practiced ahimsa in their own lives to perfection, would only have said, Brothers, we can do nothing." It is childish impertinence on my part to find fault with the saints in this way, but I am only describing what I see, sitting on their shoulders. May they forgive me for this! And they will, for great is their forgiveness. It would not be true to say that they were never moved to use the method of ahimsa on the social plane. |
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