AHIMSA

Gandhi will be remembered as one of the very few who have set the stamp of an idea of an
epoch. That idea is non-violence, said Edward Thompson. The idea of ahimsa or non-
violence is the key concept of Gandhian thought and philosophy, while non-violence has
been preached by religious prophets as a cardinal moral virtue, political philosophers have
generally concentrated on the justification of force and the exercise of power. But Gandhi
used non-violence not only as a political instrument but also consider it to be a moral and
social goals. For Gandhi, non-violence is the law of the species as violence is law of the
brutes. This shows that non-violence plays an important role in Gandhian philosophy. What
does Gandhi mean by non-violence? Gandhi himself says,” I have nothing new to teach to the
world. Truth and non-violence is as old as the creation. In fact, it was the course of my
pursuits of truth that I observe non-violence”. The Gandhian concept of non-violence
emanates from his concept of truth. Truth is always found inherent in every one of us in one
form or the other and the pursuits of truth is through Ahimsa. For Gandhi, both Ahimsa and
truth or the pursuit of truth always goes together. Ahimsa is the theoretical side and
satyagraha is the practical application of Ahimsa.
The word Ahimsa literally means non-injury or more narrowly non –killing, and more widely
harmlessness, renunciation of the will to kill and intention to hurt any living, the abstention
from hostile thought, word and deed. Ahimsa was essential to Hinduism, Jainism and
Buddhism in different ways. It was regarded as equivalent to Dharma or the moral law. It was
a necessary means for Moksha or liberation and a vital part of spiritual discipline. In the Jain
tradition as in the Hindu epics, complete Ahimsa could be practiced with success only by a
saint who has renounced all worldly pursuits. In Buddhism it is an essential requirement for
every monk.
Gandhi, however, distinguished between the positive and negative meaning of Ahimsa. In its
negative form, it means non-injury or abstention from doing harm to living creatures.
But in so far as all created life lives by injuring others, the practice of Ahimsa constitutes
self-conquest by self-denial in order to ensure others live. Therefore, abstention from injury
to other lives is the least expression of Ahimsa; its positive and greatest expression being
love and self-sacrifice, love even for one’s enemies, as love for one’s enemies demands
the greatest self-conquest. Hence, Gandhi would logically say,” | In its positive form,
Ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity. If I am a follower of Ahimsa, I must love
my enemy…this active ahimsa includes Truth and Fearlessness”.
According, to Gandhi, non-violence is not a negative but a positive attitude of tolerance and
self-dignity. ahimsa may ultimately be identical with divine love, the sense of oneness with
all that belong to the great prophets and mystics. But in its immediate and daily application, it
must be distinguished from the feeling of love and benevolence as well as from mere hatred
and violence. Non-violence is not a resignation from all real fighting because one is weak,
but it is a more active fight against wickedness, Gandhi says, “I seek entirely to blunt the
edge of the tyrant sword not by putting against it a sharper edged weapon but in disappointing
his expectation that I would be offering physical resistance. Non-violence as Gandhi saw it
actually presupposes the ability to strike. besides it is a conscious deliberate restraint put open
one’s desire for vengeance. Since Ahimsa implies the love of one’s enemies, Gandhi rightly
saw that love is all-inclusive. ahimsa includes love for the whole creation and not to limit
love just to human beings. He preferred the word ‘Charity’ over ‘love’, because it implies
pity for the wrongdoer.
Gandhi offers five reasons for observing non-violence. Firstly, non-violence is more effective
than violence. Secondly, it is the triumph of moral and spiritual values over brute force.
Thirdly, love and non-violence are in coordination with the law of nature and it will triumph
ultimately. Fourthly, it shakes the opponent’s wheel and destroys its immortality. Lastly, it
purifies the body, mind and spirit.
Gandhi’s refusal to accept different standards for saints and ordinary people and his desire to
give ancient Indian concepts a social, other than mystical use led him to extend the meaning
of Ahimsa. Although, he repeatedly declared that ahimsa was advocated in the Gita, the Bible
and Quran and was particularly stressed by Buddhism and Jain teachers, Gandhi claim that
his belief in non-violence was independent of the sanction of the scriptures.
Gandhi extended the meaning of Ahimsa beyond mere non-killing or even non-injury. the
path of Ahimsa is the path of non-attachment and entails continuous suffering and the
cultivation of endless patience. In its relatively narrower sense, it means no to hurt any living
creature by thought word or deed. The Hindu precept of "cause no injury" applies to animals
and all life forms. Ahimsa implies not merely a certain attitude of detached sympathy towards
the enemy but also the denial of the very existence of an enemy. at times, he equated Ahimsa
with innocence and declared that complete non-violence is complete absence of ill will, that
active non-violence is goodwill towards all life, which it is a perfect state and the goal
towards which mankind moves naturally though unconsciously. At other times, Gandhi
identified Ahimsa with reason and defended it in terms similar to the golden rule. Total
Ahimsa is a state of soul and mind, but the practice of non –violence is a deliberate exercise
that could be justified rationally.
Gandhi equated the term ‘Ahimsa ‘with humility, forgiveness, love, charity, selflessness,
fearlessness, strength, non-attachment, meekness and innocence. Similarly, he stretched
‘himsa’or violence far beyond its ordinary usage in fact all unfair and foul means comes
under the category of himsa.