Children, non-violence is the highest dharma. Whether one is leading a spiritual or worldly life, one must try not to hurt any living being. The waves of pain arising from even the smallest being who is hurt create ripples in the atmosphere, and will adversely affect the one who hurt it. Therefore, do not hurt any creature in thought, word or deed.
That said, we must first understand correctly what violence and non-violence actually are. Violence is hurting others through indiscriminate or selfish action. But actions done with the intention of helping others cannot be considered violence. What determines whether an action is violent or non-violent is the attitude behind it.
Amma can give an example. A woman gave her maid, a young girl, a lot of work. Though she tried hard, the child could not finish her chores on time. The mistress scolded her, making her cry. The same woman spanked her daughter for neglecting her homework and playing instead. The daughter sat in a corner of the room and started crying.
Here, both children were crying. The mother’s spanking of her child cannot be considered violence because she had spanked her daughter with a good intention: she wanted her daughter to have a bright future. This is not violence, only a reflection of her love for the child.
That said, though the woman did not spank her maid, her behaviour towards the girl was callous and violent. Would a mother treat her child this way? Here, we must consider the attitude behind the different treatments meted out to the two children.
While planting a fruit-bearing sapling, we might uproot many small plants around it. But when the sapling becomes a tree, how beneficial it will be to society! Not only that, many small plants can grow in its shade. Looked at from this perspective, uprooting the small plants was no loss and cannot be considered violence.
Even hurting a few individuals for the selfless purpose of safeguarding the well-being of society cannot be considered violence. This is why the Mahabharata war is considered a righteous war.