Ahimsa Mohandas Gandhi’s life exemplified this Jain ideal of non-violence.
Himsa means “harming.” The prefix a implies the opposite, “not-harming.”
Ahimsa is based on respect for all life. It’s believed that violence to the living merely harms self and others, binding the doer to undesirable future incarnations on Earth.
The ideal is central to Buddhism and particularly Jainism. Because the early Hindu Vedas prescribe animal sacrifices and the Bhagavad Gita advocates killing without attachment, it would be difficult to say that Hinduism fits perfectly with ahimsa. But the idea is found within the Hindu Chandogya Upanisad and in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
As with Catholicism from St. Augustine of Hippo onward, Hinduism advocates peace while maintaining room for allegedly necessary violence, also known as the Just War.
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