Q1. What are the five senses and how are they defined in Jainism? How do the five senses play a role in determining our actions or intentions from violence point of view?
A1. The five senses are Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Hearing.
Senses possessed by living beings
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Examples of living beings with these senses
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1 sense - Touch
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Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Plants
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2 senses - Touch and Taste
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Worms, Shell
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3 senses - Touch, Taste and Smell
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Ants, Black Ants, Lice
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4 senses - Touch, Taste, Smell and Sight
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Flies, Bees, Wasps
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5 senses - Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight and Hearing
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Humans, Animals, Birds
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The Jain literature indicates that a living being with higher number of senses possesses higher faculties of knowledge (gyan). The faculty of knowledge increases in the order of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
Among the five sense living beings, grown-up human beings possess a fully developed mind and human beings are the only ones who can do meditation and ultimately attain self-realization and liberation.
More senses equates to more faculty of knowledge and this is why hurting or exploiting five sense living being is worse than hurting four, three etc... senses living beings. The number of senses play a greater role in deciding our intentions and actions from violence point of view.
Jainism believes that it is more sinful if we hurt or kill living beings that possess two or more senses, since we can healthily survive on only one sense living beings, such as plants, air and water.
The degree of violence is proportional to the number of senses a living being possesses. There is no equation in Jainism like 10,000 one sense being equals to 1 two senses living being. Therefore, from non-violence perspective, we don’t count number of souls, but instead number of senses / knowledge / consciousness of the souls.
Jainism advocates following path of minimum violence because life cannot exist without violence to one-sense living beings (water, earth, fire, plant and air). It essentially means not hurting any two senses and higher living beings and using one-sense living being only for healthy survival and no wastage. Waste of any food is violence.
"Jainism Presents various solutions of ecological problems through its theory of non-violence. Jain hold that not only humans and animals but also earth, air, fire, water and vegetation are sentient. For Jains to pollute, disturb, hurt and destroy them means committing violence against them". - Prof. Sagarmal Jain.
