Does Sending Chickens and Ducks to Eliminate Locusts Constitute Killing?

Inciting others to commit killing is an even graver offense than committing killing oneself. Why is this so? When you kill a living being yourself, you alone create the evil karma and form an evil affinity with sentient beings. But when you incite others to kill on your behalf, the killing they commit also counts as your own share—your intention to kill still remains—and moreover you cause others to form evil affinities and create evil karma, staining them with defilement. This is a double evil karma.

Letting chickens and ducks kill locusts on behalf of humans means the locusts die because of humans, so it counts as killing by humans; the chickens and ducks are merely tools by which humans kill the locusts. At the same time, the chickens and ducks also form an evil affinity with the locusts and will suffer evil retribution in future lives—and this is caused by humans. Therefore, sending chickens and ducks to exterminate locusts carries greater evil karma than exterminating the locusts oneself.

But when faced with such a great locust plague, should one exterminate the locusts or not? If the locusts threaten human survival, then of course they must be exterminated, because human life is countless times more precious than that of locusts. Comparing the two, one should first ensure human survival. Humans are suitable vessels for the Path, capable of performing a great many wholesome deeds that benefit all beings of the three evil destinies. As long as a person is alive, everything else can be managed. There will merely be some evil retribution in later lives, which is far better than losing one's life to locusts now or being trapped by disaster.

Every sentient being has committed far too much killing karma over beginningless kalpas—countless deeds, great and small. Therefore every sentient being has deep karmic obstructions and many evil affinities. No matter how good you are, there will still be those who want to kill you, those who beat and scold you, those who insult and frame you, those who slander you, and those who look down on you; you will have many adversaries who speak ill of you.

Encountering adverse conditions and disasters and being forced to commit killing is itself a manifestation of lacking merit—it is karmic obstruction, the retributive result of evil karma. If there were no karmic obstructions, one would not encounter situations where one must commit killing in order to solve one's own survival problem. When the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have eradicated their evil karma, they will no longer attract such adverse conditions and will never be forced to commit killing. Even if they encounter evil affinities, they can turn danger into safety and transform calamity into good fortune, and they can use their immeasurable merit to make amends and to deliver their adversaries.