Ahimsa

While ancient scholars of Brahmanism had already investigated and refined the principles of ahimsa, the concept reached an extraordinary development in the ethical philosophy of Jainism.

[7] About the 5th century CE, Valluvar emphasized ahimsa and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual, which formed the core of his teachings in the Kural.

[10][11] Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as modern scholars,[12] disagree about what the principle of Ahimsa dictates when one is faced with war and other situations that require self-defence.

[13] The word Ahimsa—sometimes spelled Ahinsa[14][15]—is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs, meaning to strike; hiṃsā is injury or harm, while a-hiṃsā (prefixed with the alpha privative), its opposite, is non-harming or nonviolence.

[29] The earliest reference to the idea of non-violence to animals (pashu-Ahimsa), apparently in a moral sense, is in the Kapisthala Katha Samhita of the Yajurveda (KapS 31.11), which may have been written in about 1500-1200 BCE.

The Chāndogya Upaniṣad, dated to 800 to 600 BCE, one of the oldest Upanishads, has the earliest evidence for the Vedic era use of the word Ahimsa in the sense familiar in Hinduism (a code of conduct).

[35][36] Chāndogya Upaniṣad also names Ahimsa, along with Satyavacanam (truthfulness), Ārjavam (sincerity), Dānam (charity), and Tapo (penance/meditation), as one of five essential virtues (CU 3.17.4).

[5][37] The Sandilya Upanishad lists ten forbearances: Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Daya, Arjava, Kshama, Dhriti, Mitahara, and Saucha.

The Mahabharata, one of the epics of Hinduism, has multiple mentions of the phrase Ahimsa Paramo Dharma (अहिंसा परमॊ धर्मः), which literally means: non-violence is the highest moral virtue.

Gandhi, for example, considers this debate about non-violence and lawful violence as a mere metaphor for the internal war within each human being, when he or she faces moral questions.

[42] The classical texts of Hinduism devote numerous chapters to discussing what people who practice the virtue of ahimsa can and must do when faced with war, violent threat, or the need to sentence someone convicted of a crime.

For example, Tähtinen suggests self-defense is appropriate, criminals are not protected by the rule of ahimsa, and Hindu scriptures support violence against an armed attacker.

[69] Many of the arguments proposed in favor of non-violence to animals refer to the bliss one feels, the rewards it entails before or after death, the danger and harm it prevents, as well as to the karmic consequences of violence.

[73][74][75] Scholars[40][76] claim the principles of ecological nonviolence are innate in the Hindu tradition, and its conceptual fountain has been ahimsa as its cardinal virtue.

[77][78] However, the Tirukkural also glorifies soldiers and their valour during war, and states that it is king's duty to punish criminals and implement "death sentence for the wicked".

[87] Gandhi believed ahimsa to be a creative energy force, encompassing all interactions leading one's self to find satya, "Divine Truth".

[88] Sri Aurobindo criticized the Gandhian concept of ahimsa as unrealistic and not universally applicable; he adopted a pragmatic non-pacifist position, saying that the justification of violence depends on the specific circumstances of the given situation.

He commended Indian traditions for their ethics of ahimsa, considering the prohibition against killing and harming "one of the greatest events in the spiritual history of humankind".

Vijnanabhiksu uses the analogy of an elephant to convey its importance, while Vyasa defines it as refraining from harming any living being at any time, emphasizing that all other yamas support and purify ahimsa.

It is a precursor to Asana, implying that success in Yogasana can be had only if the self is purified in thought, word, and deed through the self-restraint of ahimsa.

[118] Both the renouncers and the laypeople of Jain faith reject meat, fish, alcohol, and honey as these are believed to harm large or minuscule life forms.

Certain Jain texts (according to Padmannabh Jaini, a Jainism scholar) forbid people of its faith from husbandry, agriculture, and trade in animal-derived products.

For its monastic community – sadhu and sadhvi – the historically accepted practice has been to "willingly sacrifice one's own life" to the attacker, to not retaliate, so that the mendicant may keep the First Great Vow of "total nonviolence".

[123] In the 12th century CE and thereafter, in an era of violent raids, destruction of temples, the slaughter of agrarian communities and ascetics by Islamic armies, Jain scholars reconsidered the First Great Vow of mendicants and its parallel for the laypeople.

The medieval texts of this era, such as by Jinadatta Suri, recommended both the mendicants and the laypeople to fight and kill if that would prevent greater and continued violence on humans and other life forms (virodhi-himsa).

[124] Mahatma Gandhi stated, "No religion in the World has explained the principle of Ahiṃsā so deeply and systematically as is discussed with its applicability in every human life in Jainism.

[127][128][129] The ahimsa precept is not a commandment, and transgressions did not invite religious sanctions[clarification needed] for laypersons, but their[ambiguous] power has been in the Buddhist belief in karmic consequences and their impact in afterlife during rebirth.

[130] Killing, in Buddhist belief, could lead to rebirth in the hellish realm, and for a longer time in more severe conditions if the murder victim was a monk.

[139] It seems that the Buddha's teaching on nonviolence was not interpreted or put into practice in an uncompromisingly pacifist or anti-military service way by early Buddhists.

[139] The early texts assume war to be a fact of life, and well-skilled soldiers are viewed as necessary for defensive warfare.