Ahimsa in Jainism

In Jainism, ahiṃsā (Ahimsā, alternatively spelled 'ahinsā', Sanskrit: अहिंसा IAST: ahinsā, Pāli:[1] avihinsā) is a fundamental principle forming the cornerstone of its ethics and doctrine.

There are five specific transgressions of Ahimsa principle in Jain scriptures – binding of animals, beating, mutilating limbs, overloading, and withholding food and drink.

But according to the Jain philosophy, violence refers primarily to injuring one's own self – behaviour which inhibits the soul's own ability to attain moksha (liberation from the cycle of births and deaths).

[7] Jain texts expound that there are ten life essentials or life-principles; these are: the five senses, energy, respiration, life-duration, the organ of speech, and the mind.

[18] The Jain text Puruşārthasiddhyupāya deals with the conduct required of the householder (śrāvaka) and therefore discusses the fundamental vow of Ahimsa in detail.

The text expounds that "all these subdivisions (injury, falsehood, stealing, unchastity, and attachment) are hiṃsā as indulgence in these sullies the pure nature of the soul.

There is all-round injury to the living in copulation and, therefore, it is hiṃsā.Just as a hot rod of iron inserted into a tube filled with sesame seeds burns them up, in the same way, many beings get killed during sexual intercourse5.

This seemingly extreme behaviour of the monks comes from a sense that every action, no matter however subtle, has a karmic effect which can bind soul and inhibit liberation, especially those that result in hiṃsā (injury).

[30] A Jain layman, on account of his household and occupational compulsions, is unable to adhere to the five major vows of ascetic.

Tying up, injuring, mutilating, burdening with heavy load and depriving from food and drinks any animal or human being, with one's mind polluted by anger and other passions are the five aticāra or transgressions of the vow of ahimsa.

[32] Through the ages Jains have sought to avoid occupations that unavoidably entail injury, and this accounts for the disproportionate number who have entered banking, commerce and other mercantile trades.

[34] While Jainism enjoins observance of total nonviolence by the ascetics, it is often argued that the man is constantly obliged to engage in destructive activities of eating, drinking, breathing and surviving in order to support his body.

Tattvārthasūtra defines hiṃsā or violence simply as removal of life by careless activity of mind, body and speech.

Paul Dundas quotes Ācārya Jinabhadra (7th century), who shows that the omnipresence of life-forms in the universe need not totally inhibit normal behaviour of the ascetics:[36] It is the intention that ultimately matters.

Samaṇ Suttaṁ declared: The ignorant cannot destroy their Karmas by their actions while the wise can do it by their inaction i.e. by controlling their activities because they are free from greed and lustful passions and do not commit any sin as they remain contentedAnekantavada is the principle of relativity of truth or the doctrine of multiple aspects.

Anekantavada describes the world as a multifaceted, ever-changing reality with an infinity of viewpoints relative to the time, place, nature and state of one who is the viewer and that which is viewed.

An early Jain text says: "With the three means of punishment – thoughts, words, deeds – ye shall not injure living beings.

[32] The Jain doctrine of non-injury is based on rational consciousness, not emotional compassion; on responsibility to self, not on a social fellow feeling.

Furthermore, according to the Jain karmic theory, each and every soul, including self, has reincarnated as an animal, plant or microorganism innumerable number of times besides re-incarnated as humans.

The motto of Jainism – Parasparopagraho jīvānām, translated as: all life is inter-related and it is the duty of souls to assist each other- also provides a rational approach of Jains towards Ahimsa.

According to Amṛtacandra Sūri: "Those who wish to renounce hiṃsā must, first of all, make effort to give up the consumption of wine, flesh, honey, and the five udumbara fruits (the five udumbara trees are Gular, Anjeera, Banyan, Peepal, and Pakar, all belonging to the fig class).The strictest forms of Jain diet are practised by the monastic ascetics.

[44] The scrupulous and thorough way of applying nonviolence to everyday activities, and especially to food, shapes their entire lives and is the most significant hallmark of Jain identity.

Ācārya Amṛtacandra of Puruṣārthasiddhyupāya condemned this practice by stating that it is a misconception to hold that Gods are pleased at sacrifices of living beings and there is no wrong in committing hiṃsā for the sake of religion.

It is also a wrong belief that killing of self and others is justified as the soul that is imprisoned in the body will be permanently released and achieve salvation.

A great part of attracted karma bears its consequences with minor fleeting effects, as generally most of our activities are influenced by mild negative emotions.

However, those actions that are influenced by intense negative emotions cause an equally strong karmic attachment which usually does not bear fruit immediately.

If the supportive conditions do not arise, the respective karmas will manifest at the end of maximum period for which it can remain bound to the soul.

Mahatma Gandhi was of the view:No religion in the World has explained the principle of Ahimsa so deeply and systematically as is discussed with its applicability in every human life in Jainism.

[citation needed] According to Thomas McEvilley, a noted Indologist, certain seals of Indus Valley civilisation depict a meditative figure surrounded by a multitude of wild animals, providing evidence of proto yoga tradition in India akin to Jainism.

[citation needed] Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi wrote the Jain slogan, Ahimsa parmo dharma, on Facebook's Real Wall at its headquarters, when he visited for a town hall question-and-answer session in September 2015.