Non-violence, and killing mosquitoes

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner (Q): Dear Acharya Ji, for the sake of not sounding hypocritical, I have to admit that I have killed more than one mosquito in my life and many other insects too, but never intended to cause pain and suffering to them. Now hearing, let alone seeing the relatively conscious animals being tortured evokes almost unbearable pain and helplessness in me.

Acharya Prashant (AP): Yes, of course. If you understand where your pain, helplessness and concern come from, then you will be more determined, more unflinching in your stand. Otherwise, you will remain a bit shaky, uncertain.

When it comes to killing mosquitoes, you must remember the fundamentals. Man, as he is, is bound to kill. Killing is necessarily associated with the human form. That’s how we are, and that’s why the Saints loathed the human form. They didn’t say that it is a great joy to be born as a human body. They said, “Please, we do not want to come back again as a human body, we want to be liberated.” Because to be human is to be violent.

Now, that’s a fine thing that you must understand. To be a lion does not mean that you are violent; to be a rat is not necessarily to be violent. In fact, the word ‘violence’ does not apply to the lion or to the rat. It…