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Ahimsa in Jainism
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(Sanskrit : ??????, Prakrit : ??????) means “non-violence”, “non-injury” or absence of desire to harm any life forms. Ahi?sa is the fundamental principle of Jainism forming the cornerstone of its ethics and doctrine. Vegetarianism and other non-violent practices and rituals of Jains flow from the principle of Ahi?sa. According to Adian Rankin, the concept of Ahi?sa is so much intertwined with Jainism that it conjures up images of ascetics who cover their mouths and sweep the ground before them with small brushes to avoid injuring the most minuscule forms of life and Jain-owned animal sanctuaries where even the sickest, most deformed birds and beasts are protected and cherished.
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(Sanskrit : ??????, Prakrit : ??????) means “non-violence”, “non-injury” or absence of desire to harm any life forms. Ahi?sa is the fundamental principle of Jainism forming the cornerstone of its ethics and doctrine. Vegetarianism and other non-violent practices and rituals of Jains flow from the principle of Ahi?sa. According to Adian Rankin, the concept of Ahi?sa is so much intertwined with Jainism that it conjures up images of ascetics who cover their mouths and sweep the ground before them with small brushes to avoid injuring the most minuscule forms of life and Jain-owned animal sanctuaries where even the sickest, most deformed birds and beasts are protected and cherished. These overt manifestations of an ancient faith challenge the comfortable - and near-universal - assumption of human precedence over other creatures.
The Jain concept of is quite different from the concept of non-violence found in other philosophies. In other religious traditions, violence is usually associated with causing harm to others. On the other hand, in Jainism, violence refers primarily to injuring one's own self – behaviour which inhibits the souls own ability to attain or liberation. At the same time it also means violence to others because it is this tendency to harm others that ultimately harms ones own soul. Furthermore, the Jains have extended the concept of Ahi?sa not only to humans but to all animals, plants, micro-organisms and all beings having life or life potential. All life is sacred and everyone has a right to live fearlessly to its maximum potential. The living beings do not have any fear from those who have taken the vow of . According to Jainism, protection of life, also known as abhayadanam, is the supreme charity that a person can make.
does not merely indicate absence of physical violence, but also indicates absence of desire to indulge in any sort of violence. This Jain ideal of profoundly influenced Mahatma Gandhi, through his friendship with the Jain scholar Shrimad Rajchandra that it formed a basis of his satyagraha (truth struggle) against colonial rule and caused him to rethink many aspects of contemporary Hindu practices. While Jainism is not a proselytizing religion and as such has no organised system of advocating its doctrine, Jains have been forefront in strongly advocating vegetarianism and non-violence through ages. Ahi?sa being central to the Jain philosophy, Jain Acaryas have produced, through ages, quite elaborate and detailed doctrinal materials concerning its various aspects.
The vow of non-violence
is formalized into Jain doctrine as the first major vow of the ascetics and first minor vow of the laity.
The Vow of Ascetics
The Jain monks and the nuns undertake five major vows known as Mahavratas at the time of their ordination to monkhood, out of which Ahi?sa is the first and foremost. Jain monks and nuns must rank among the most “non-violent” people in the world. A Jain ascetic is expected to uphold the vow of Ahi?sa to the highest standard, even at the cost of his own life. The other four major vows – truthfulness, non-stealing, non-possession and celibacy – are in fact extension of the first vow of complete non-violence. According to Am?tacandra Suri:
- “All sins like falsehood, theft, attachment and immorality are forms of violence which destroy the purity of the soul. They have been separately enumerated only to facilitate their understanding”
- Puru?arthasiddhyupaya 4.42.
Ascetic Practices for adherence of Ahi?sa
The ascetic practices of total renunciation of worldly affairs and possessions, refusal to stay in a single place for a long time, continuous practice of austerities like fasting etc. are geared towards observance of ahi?sa. The Jain mendicants abide by a rigorous set of rules of conduct, where they must eat, sleep and even walk with full diligence and with an awareness that even walking kills several hundreds of minute beings. They generally brush the ground clear of insects before they tread; some wear a small mask to avoid taking in tiny insects; some monks do not wear even clothes and eat food only when it is not prepared for themselves. The observation of three guptis or the controls of mind, speech and body and five samiti or regulation of walking, speaking, begging of food, keeping items and disposal of items are designed to help the monks in observing the vow of ahi?sa faultlessly. In fact entire day of a Jain monk is spent in ensuring that he observes his vow of ahi?sa through mind, body and speech faultlessly. 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 hi?sa.}}
The Vow of the Laity
A Jain layman, on account of his household and occupational compulsions, is unable to adhere to the five major vows of ascetic. Hence he observes a?uvrata or minor vows which although are similar to the major vows of the ascetics are observed with a lesser severity. It is difficult to avoid some violence by a lay person to single-sensed immobile beings in the process of occupation, cooking, self defense etc. That is why he vows not to kill without a necessary purpose and determined intention, a moving sentient being, when it is innocent. Tying up, injuring, mutilating, burdening with heavy load and depriving from food and drinks any animal or human being with a mind polluted by anger and other passions are the five aticara or transgressions of the vow of Ahi?sa. However, it is to be understood that ultimately, there is limited spiritual progress and no emancipation unless the major vows are adhered to.
Laity Practices for adherence of Ahi?sa
Jainism is perhaps the only religion in the world that requires all its adherents to follow a strict vegetarian diet. Vegetarian food that also involves more harm to the living beings such as roots, bulbs, multi seeded vegetables etc are avoided by strict Jains. The importance of Ahi?sa manifests in many other ways in the daily life of Jains. For a layperson it means participating in business that results in least amount of violence to living beings. No furs, plumes or silk are worn. Use of leather is kept to a minimum and must in any event be from naturally dead animals. Food is usually eaten during the day unless unavoidable, since there is too much danger of injuring insects in cooking at night. The Jain will not use an open light nor leave a container of liquid uncovered lest a stray insect be destroyed; even with this precaution, liquids are always strained before use. 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..
Jain Concept of
Hierarchy of Living Beings on basis of Senses
Carefulness
Mental States and intention
Significance of true Knowledge
Anekantavada - The non-violence of mind
Anekantavada is the principle of relativity of truth or the doctrine of multiple aspects. Jains hold that truth is multifaceted and has multiple sides that cannot be completely comprehended by anyone. 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. What is true from one point of view is open to question from another. Absolute truth cannot be grasped from any particular viewpoint alone, because absolute truth is the sum total of all different viewpoints that make up the universe. Because it is rooted in these doctrines, Jainism cannot exclusively uphold the views of any individual, community, nation, or species. It recognises inherently that other views are valid for other peoples, and for other life-forms. This perception leads to the doctrine of syadvada or sevenfold predication stating the truth from different viewpoints. Anekantvada is the doctrine and Syadvada is its expression. According to Jaina philosophers all important philosophical statements should be expressed in this sevenfold way in order to remove the danger of dogmatism (ekanta) in philosophy.
The concept of syadvada allows the Jains to accept the truth in other philosophies from their perspective and thus inculcating a tolerance for other viewpoints. Anekantvada is non-absolutist and stands firmly against all dogmatisms, even including any assertion that only Jainism is the right religious path. It is thus an intellectual Ahimsa or Ahimsa of mind. In Anekantvada, there is no "battle of ideas", because this is considered to be a form of intellectual himsa or damage, leading quite logically to physical violence and war. In today's world, the limitations of the adversarial, “either with us or against us “ form of argument are increasingly apparent leading to political, religious and social conflicts. Even the mounting ecological crisis is linked to adversarialism, because it arises from a false division between humanity and "the rest" of nature.
Various aspects and consequences of violence
While the Jain ascetics observe absolute non-violence, so far as a Jain householder is concerned, the violence is divided as follows :-
-
Ways of committing Violence
It would be wrong, however, to conclude that ahimsa only prohibited physical violence. An early Jain text says: "With the three means of punishment – thoughts, words, deeds – ye shall not injure living beings." In fact, violence can be committed by combination of the following four factors :
1. The instrumentality of our actions. We can commit violence by either through
- a. body i.e. physical action,
- b. speech i.e. verbal action, or
- c. mind i.e. mental actions
2. The process of committing violence. This includes whether we
- a. only decide or plan to act,
- b. make preparations for the act e.g. like collecting necessary materials or weapons, or
- c. actually begin the action
3. The modality of our action, including if we
- a. we ourselves commit violence,
- b. we instigate others to carry out the violence, or
- c. we give our silent approval for the violence
4. The motivation for action. This includes which of the following negative emotions that the violence is motivated by.
- a. Anger
- b. Greed
- c. Pride
- d. Manipulation or deceit
Thus violence is committed by a combination of any one element of the above four factors. Due to this, there are 108 ways with which the violence can be committed.
The Rationale of Non violence
Fruits of non-violence and violence
Misconceptions on Non-violence
Animal sacrifices
Worshipping violent gods
Oblations to forefathers
Glory of death on the battlefield
The Hindu belief that the death in battlefield resulted in rebirth in heavens has been recorded in Mahabharata where Krsna tells Arjuna :
- "Slain you will attain heavens, conquering you will enjoy earth;
- Therefore rise, O Arjuna, resolved to do battle"
-Bhagavad Gita ii 37
However according to Jainas death accompanied by hatred and violence can never lead to heavens. According to a story in Bhagavati Sutra, all the 840,000 soldiers who perished in a war between Konika, the Magadhan emperor and other kings, were either reborn in hell or as animals. Only one person who maintained equanimity in the midst of death in battlefield was reborn in heaven.
Other wrong beliefs
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- Animals should not be killed for guests or persons deserving respect as often advocated in certain scriptures.
- It is also a wrong belief that wild animals that kill many other animals should be killed. This is often justified in the name of hunting of ferocious animals like tigers for sport.
- Another wrong belief forwarded to justify killing of ferocious animals is that, these kill many lives and accumulate grave sins and hence killing them is an act of mercy. According to Jainism, killing can never be an act of mercy.
- It is also a misconception to believe that it is advisable to kill those who are suffering so that they may get relief from agony. These sorts of arguments are forwarded to justify killing of those animals that may have become old or injured and hence have become commercially useless.
- Other wrong beliefs are killing those who are in state of happiness or those who are in meditation under wrong belief that the mental state at the time of death will be perpetuated in future lives.
- 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 permanent released and achieve salvation.
Non-violence and vegetarianism
Origins and evolution of Ahimsa
Citations and Notes
Bibliography
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