It has been
written in ancient Hindu scriptures that ahimsa, an ethical virtue, must be
observed in thought, words and deeds. It is first mentioned in Chandogya
Upanishad, one of the oldest Upanishads, dated eighth or seventh century B.C.
The concept of ahimsa was further more developed by Mahatma Gandhi, who revived
the traditional concept of it and applied it successfully particularly in the
political field on a large scale. His concept of ahimsa is entirely based on
love. His positive aspect of ahimsa is greatly influenced by Christian concept
of love, Buddhist twin concepts of Karuna (compassion) and Maitri
(friendliness); Jaina philosophy of equality of all souls. Ahimsa is found in
all religion such as Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. So he called it as the
heart of all religions. The teaching of Christianity-“Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you and prosecute you” is deeply impressed on Gandhi’s mind. He
learnt the lesson of selfless action and renunciation for the fruits of action
(nishkama karma) from Bhagavad Gita. He read Quran in translation and considered
it is a religion of peace, love, kindness and brotherhood of all men. He found
that moral elements are common to all religions and signify the unity of all
religions. He mentioned in his autobiography that he inherited toleration of all
faiths from his father. He was brought up in a devout Vaisnavite family. He is
monist who believed that God is one without a second just like Advaita Vedanta
describe Brahman as ekam eva advitam. Moreover he believed in Hindu philosophy
that all life comes from one absolute thing. He says, “The chief value of
Hinduism lies in holding the actual belief that all life is one i.e., all life
coming from one universal source, called it Allah, God or Parameshwara”.1 Every
human being has an idea of God in his or her own mind. The interpretations are
different due to His innumerable manifestations. The concept of God differs due
to different religions, different countries etc. We may all have different
definitions of God. Besides all different definitions of God there is certain
sameness which would be unmistakable in the heart of all individuals that God is
the supreme power and the highest reality. He is a dynamic religious thinker who
conceived that nothing exist in reality except truth. All his religious ideas
are based on this firm conviction. His concept of religion is undogmatic. He saw
religion in the image of truth. Different religions are the different visions of
the same reality. He says, “For me, the different religions are beautiful
flowers from the same garden, or they are branches of the same majestic tree.
Therefore, they are equally true, though being received and interpreted through
human instruments equally imperfect.”2 Religion helps to elevate the inner life
of human beings. He maintained that the great religions of the world would try
to help in promoting a life of self-control, sacrifice, peace and harmony
between the individuals so as to create a heaven on earth. There is no superior
or inferior religion between the individuals or communities. The meaning of
religion is differing from person to person according to his creed, sect and
ritual culture in which he belongs. Gandhi’s religion is a spiritual humanism
and service to humanity on the basis of ahimsa.
He used ahimsa
as a means for the realization of truth. One of the most important philosophical
thoughts of Gandhi is the end and means problem. End and means are the two
important concepts in his philosophy which play a very important implication for
his doctrine of truth and ahimsa. He discussed this two terms very seriously, it
became critical in his philosophy. He considered Truth as the end and ahimsa as
the means. They are convertible term. “Ahimsa and truth are so intertwined that
it is practically impossible to disentangle and separate them. They are like the
two sides of a coin, or rather a smooth unstamped metallic disc who can say,
which is obverse, and which is the reverse. Nevertheless, ahimsa is the means,
Truth is the end. Means to be means must always be within our reach, and so
ahimsa is our supreme duty. If we take care of the means, we are bound to reach
the end sooner or later.”3 In his philosophy, sarvodaya - greatest good of all,
sawarajya - rule over oneself and self-realization, realizing absolute truth,
seeing God face to face, attaining moksa or knowing oneself, are the some
important ends. All these ends are closely connected with spirituality. The
means must be pure because these ends are moral and spiritual ends. Human beings
try to easily achieve their aims without caring about the means. An enthusiastic
or spiritual man takes care for both end and means. Gandhi regards the only
means is real. Gandhi believed that man can bring the heaven or paradise on this
earth only if both end and means are used in the right manner. The end which is
spiritual cannot be attained by non-spiritual means. It indicates that a good
end cannot justify any means. His standpoint is different from Marxism and
Machiavelli, who accept end justifies the means. The problem of end and means
has also been being discussed from the ancient time. All the Indian
Philosophical schools try to find out what would be the means in order to
achieve the end i.e. unmixed happiness or in a sense, freedom from all kinds of
suffering. In Indian philosophy and Indian ethics, moksa–ultimate end is
regarded as paramapurusartha. It is necessary to obey and perform the ethical
principles in order to get this ultimate end. They give more importance to the
means. Like the traditional view, Gandhi, too, gives more importance to means
rather than the end. He thought that both the concepts of end and means are the
derivatives of law of karma and karmayoga of Gita. Law of karma is one the basic
beliefs in Hinduism. This theory states that every action reproduces the result.
Karma should be done without selfishness. Action is the means and its result is
the end. Gandhi was definitely a man of action (karma yogi). His thoughts and
actions are very much influenced by Gita. The Gita, for him, is a book of daily
reference. He says, “To me the Gita became an infallible guide to conduct. It
was my dictionary of daily reference. Just as I turned to the English dictionary
for the meaning of English words that I did not understand, I turned to this
dictionary of conduct for a ready solution of all my troubles and trials.”4
Gandhi considers the Gita as the means that it lays down. The means is
‘renunciation for the fruits of action’. On this basis, Gandhi calls the Yoga of
the Gita as anasakti yoga. In anasakti yoga, it is clearly states that one who
follows the central teaching of the Gita, he should follow the path of truth and
non-violence. In Gita such a votary is called Sthitaprajna or Trigunatita, one
who enjoys a state of blissfulness above all three gunas – Rajas, Tamas and
Sttva. Gandhi adopted the practice of anasakti and made it as the quality of a
satyagrahi. He introduced Satyagraha through the implementation of anasakti of
Gita and of the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Ahimsa is
ethically, metaphysically and religiously an absolute concept. At the practical
level the concept of ahimsa is hardly absolute. No one can observe the literal
meaning of ahimsa at the time of war. Gita accepts the niskama himsa. It is
necessary in life in order to maintain peace and harmony of the society. Even
the Hindu scriptures had permitted the use of violence for self-defense against
an armed attacker. As a human being, it is impossible to follow absolute or
complete non-violence. There are some activities which necessitate violence. We
should try to minimize the use of violence. Extreme violence should be totally
ruled out. Even if the violent act appears to be good, the good is not permanent
but only temporary. Under certain conditions Gandhi accepts the use of violence.
He said, “where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advice
violence…. I prefer to use arms in defense of honour rather than remain the vile
witness of dishonour…”5 He says, “Absolute ahimsa means perfect freedom from
himsa, that is, freedom from ill-will, anger and hate rooted in ignorance and an
over flowing understanding love for all. From the point of view of complete
ahimsa all violence in whatever form, must be eschewed. But such non-violence is
a perfect state and is reached when mind, body and speech are in perfect
co-ordination.”6 Perfect non-violence is impossible so long as we exist
physically. For the survival of human being, something is to be killed and there
should have protection from dangerous insects and animals. Violence should be
done in specific circumstances; if it is unnecessary to do violence we should
try to avoid violence. It is the standpoint of Gandhi.
His concept of
ahimsa has various dimensions and its utility. His concept of ahimsa has ethical
dimension. He established inseparable link between certain ethical elements and
his notion of ahimsa. As generally there are five ethical virtues (truth,
non-violence, chastity, non-stealing and non-possession) and he added control of
palate, fearlessness, removal of untouchability, bread labour, equality of
religion and swadeshi. Gandhi followed such moral principles which helped him in
bringing the spiritual development. All these make his soul become pure and see
God face to face. All such principles are extremely non-violent in character. He
maintained that what he added six moral principles are trying to make
fundamental and vital for the development of non-violence and truth in thought,
speech and action. These moral principles are advocated to enrich in the human
mind to pursue the virtues of truth, love and non-violence in every sphere. His
concept of ahimsa has religious dimension too. Religion, for him, is undogmatic,
tolerant, ethical and comprehensive. His principle of equality of all religions
is a corollary of the principle of non-violence. Religion is not merely uttering
the name of God or worshipping at the temple or reading the various religious
books or observing rites but it helps man to see God face to face. There are
different types of religion in the world. Such different types of religion he
considered them as one and same. According to him, different religions have one
common goal, viz., the realization of God. They have taught lofty virtue of
morality, truth, righteousness, brotherhood, non-violence and universal love. In
his opinion, the aim of religion is to try to attain God who resides in all
human hearts. He considered non-violence as the supreme religious duty. For the
psychological dimension, he firmly believed that the virtues of love,
truthfulness, non-violence, brotherhood, altruism, tolerance, self-control,
self-sacrifice, spiritualism, compassion, welfare of all can overcome the
culture of competition, ego-centrism, hatred, falsehood, selfishness and
violence. He believed that man is essentially good and non-violent; even if a
man as an animal is a violent one. He can never remain violent only if he awakes
to the spirit of non-violence. For this reason, the prophets and avatars have
taught the virtues of truth, harmony, brotherhood, justice etc. All such virtues
are the attributes of ahimsa. Gandhi has the optimistic nature and thinks about
the goodness of human nature. He considers non-violence is the law of our being
and on the other hand violence is of the brute. All man in essence is alike.
There is something lack in human mind about the importance of human value. But
everybody loves self-respect. He says, “The basic principle on which the
practice of non-violence rest is that what holds in good respect of us equally
applies to the whole universe. All mankind in essence is alike. ‘What is
therefore, possible for him, is possible for everybody’’.7 In the
socio-politico-economic dimension of non-violence, he wanted to establish a
state where there is moral and non-violent socio-political-economic system; and
free from exploitation, injustice, inequality, falsehood, hatred, communalism,
capitalism, centralization, misuse of political and economic power, fear,
possession of property and evils. All these, he considers, are the sources of
violence. For the social upliftment, he wanted to establish an ideal state-
Sarvodaya society in which all individuals are treated as equal without the
discrimination of cast, creed, colour and sex. In the field of politics, he
applied his doctrine of non-violence and tried to establish a non-violent
democratic society and government. He firmly believed that ‘the science of
religion alone can lead to pure democracy’. Without it on a national scale it
never leads to such thing as a constitutional or democratic country. In order to
have the moralize politics; he established a relationship between politics with
religions of truth, love for mankind and non-violence. Like the political field,
he also talked about the spirit and moral values of non-exploitation, equality
and justice must be included in economics. There can be no true economics where
there is disregard of the moral values to the economics. A true economics stands
for social justice and it develops well of all equally including the poor. His
idea of swaraj bear in his mind is for the poor man’s swaraj. For the economic
development, he advocated the spirit of decentralization of economic power,
swadeshi, trusteeship and bread labour. His motto of economics is ‘not mass
production but the production by the masses’. He established a non-violent
economy – khadi, the spirit of swadeshi, through which everybody should be able
to get sufficient works and to have the spirit of earn for
living.
It has been
definitely shown that his concept of ahimsa is a practical one. He called
himself a practical idealist. As a practical idealist, he tried to solve the
various difficulties and problems in a rational and scientific way. He was not
only a preacher of it but also practiced what he preached. Most of his basic
tenets are derived from the idealistic trend of traditional thoughts and
practiced them in the practical life to redress the grievances of humanity and
the evil politics of narrow minded people.
Gandhi became
Mahatma, the great leader of the masses through the proper application of
ahimsa. His concept of ahimsa tried to establish the Kingdom of God on earth,
which can only be hastened by the interior transformation of man’s heart through
love. He says, “If a man strike you take no retaliation, Love that person even
when they are hurting you.” It is same as Jesus –“If a man strike you on one
cheek offer the other also, Love your enemies….” The ethics of love moves
basically in the direction of non-violence, non-resistance to evil, i.e., love
for all creatures. It is already recommended by Lord Buddha that enmity cannot
be put to an end by enmity. ‘Let a man overcome anger by non-anger, let him
overcome evil by good, let him overcome the liar by truth’ (Dhammapada-
Kodhavaggo).
Ahimsa is a
socio-ethical virtue and it is to be cultivated like other virtues.
“Non-violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all- children, young
men and women or grown up people – provided they have a living faith in the God
of love and have therefore equal love for all mankind. When non-violence is
accepted as the law of life it must pervade the whole being and not be applied
to isolated acts”.8 As a practical idealist he says that if any principle cannot
be put into practice in our practical life and never lead to welfare of all, it
must be discarded. He became the strongest symbol of non-violence in the
twentieth century. Through the spiritual approach of ahimsa, India got
independence from British rule in 1947. His concept of ahimsa becomes a
spiritual powerful tool which is also the way for establishing peace. The
opposite of peace is not war but violence and such notion has been adopted by
peace researcher today. Non-violence not merely means absence of violence,
non-killing or non-harming to other. It connotes the positive attitudes of mind
which comprehends all living beings. So, he expanded the meaning of ahimsa as
love. He recommended that every individual should walk and work on the path of
ahimsa. It is not an easy thing to understand, still less to practice. It is an
attribute of soul so that it can be practised by everybody in all the affairs of
life. But it needs great patience. Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa is more
relevant today than ever before. In our present day society, we are living in a
situation of great turmoil where there is no place which is secure and peaceful.
We are now facing crime, hatred and distrust between one individual and another,
and between one community and another community. Also, with the complexity of
life, one group of people wants to eliminate the other for no reason. In order
to achieve supremacy or pleasure or reward, they resort to violence as a means,
which affects the entire humanity. These violent acts have eroded human values.
All over the world, it is proclaimed again and again that Gandhian notion of
pacifism is needed for present crisis. In the midst of the present international
scenario, 192 members of General Assembly of United Nations unanimously adopted
a resolution on 15th June, 2007 declaring 2nd October, the birth anniversary of
Gandhi, as ‘the International Day of Non-violence’.
Mahatma Gandhi
was not the pioneer of the concept of ahimsa. He gave a new dimension of the
ancient concept of it and applied it very successfully in various fields. It
became a spiritual powerful weapon and way of living in peace. His peaceful and
non-violent movement influenced to Martin Luther King Jr. for civil right
movement in America. Nelson Mandela and many more thinkers and social activists
have been greatly influenced by the Gandhian concept of non-violence in their
struggle against injustice. They had brought about peaceful solution to the
problems through peace and non-violence. Dalai Lama was awarded Nobel Peace
Prize in 1989; and the chairman of the committee said that this was ‘in part a
tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi’. All Nobel Peace Laureates have proudly
acknowledged their debt to Gandhi’s spiritual approach towards non-violence.
