Thus Spake the Divine - Compassion (Ahimsa)

Thus Spake the Divine

Compassion (Ahimsa)

Manu Dharma Shastra prescribes Ahimsa (Being kind and compassionate towards fellow-beings) as the first and foremost Dharma, which must be abided by all living beings. Ahimsa is one of the five Yamas (practices) of Yoga, which helps an individual surmount one’s own mind to prevent its uncontrolled wandering.

Ahimsa does not merely mean not to cause any hurt through actions of our body alone. One should not even think of hurting anyone nor speak anything that would hurt anyone’s feelings.

Nobody really wants to hurt or harm anyone. But if we conceive that somebody is doing something against our interest or committing blunders, we may want to act.

f a child mistakenly lights some fire, will we ever punish the child? No! We will only put out the fire and protect the child from going near the fire in future. Likewise, we should develop the outlook of considering all those who cause harm to us as that child. We should try and help them to restrain themselves from doing any harmful actions. We should not be angry at them and harm them in return.

This is what true Ahimsa means. Ahimsa facilitates our endeavour to control and master our mind and leads us towards the practice of Yoga.

Take the example of King Vikramaditya, who conquered Vedhal (the demon). Vedhal then came under Vikramaditya’s control and carried out all his orders obediently! The mind is like a ferocious demon. If one can take control of it, the mind becomes enormously powerful and obeys the orders of its master!

An uncontrolled, violent elephant runs amok and causes huge damage to its surroundings, whereas an elephant, which is under the control of its mahout, is calm and firm. Similarly, a mind that is as powerful as the elephant, if brought under control, can do a lot of good things for the society. Lord Hanuman had conquered his own mind and thus acquired enormous power to assist Lord Ram in his mission. The mind’s power is enormous; it is just the mind of Parashakti that created the entire universe; amidst the entire creation, She gave ant, the smallest of small creation, a mind that could traverse across the universe instantly!

Ahimsa dissolves anger into love and makes it easier for an individual to gain mastery over the mind. While the direct outcome of practising Ahimsa is control of mind, there are also indirect benefits that do not even register on our consciousness. For example, your intention of coming to this Mutt is to take part in the pooja here. But alongside, you meet many of your friends, whom you have not met for long; you listen to my sermons; you enjoy the music of drums and so on. All these are underlying benefits of your coming to this Mutt.

Similarly, if one practices absolute Ahimsa through his mind, words and deeds, then, all those who join his company automatically turn compassionate, forgetting their own animosities. This happens involuntarily without any effort in the company of the person practising Ahimsa. Even people with gruesome thoughts will automatically turn calm and composed in the company of people

practising Ahimsa. Though the individual’s resolution is to be compassionate towards his fellow-beings, it brings out the hidden benefit of his fellow-beings turning compassionate too! Here is the set of codes to be adhered to when practising Ahimsa.

A sanyasi (ascetic) should practice absolute Ahimsa. He should not pluck the leaves of a plant nor should he cook any plant. He must never engage with fire because if he uses fire, then some insect might fall into the fire and die. That’s why a sanyasi is not mandated to perform any homam or yagam involving fire (wherein any religious offering is made into fire). That’s why he is not cremated even when he bodily leaves this earth. His body is only buried under the ground. At the time of taking up sanyasam, he takes a vow that all living and non-living beings will have a free and safe life without he interfering with them. That is why, as per his absolute Dharma, he does not harm or injure any living or non- living being under the sun.

Under Buddhism and Jainism, Ahimsa is a code of practice, which is imposed on each and everybody following those religions. However, Hindu religion has not imposed this Code of Dharma on all human beings. Its imposition is primarily only on Sanyasis. There are some exemptions and exceptions for some sects in the society from adhering to the Dharma of Ahimsa. In a Yagam, killing some animals as sacrifice to God is permitted. It is believed that such an animal given as sacrifice attains the state of Moksha by being sacrificed in the Yagam. Similarly, in wars, warriors die as a mark of sacrifice for their country. Instead of leading a self- centred life, it is better to sacrifice one’s life for the good of the society. Thus, Hinduism has exempted the warrior segment of the society from adhering to the principle of Ahimsa.

It is easy to speak about absolute adherence to Ahimsa by all but, in reality, it is not that simple. There will be clashes and conflicts in day-to-day life. Suitable action will have to be taken with a view to check such disturbances. In that process, some violence may take place. In reality, such violence is not tantamount to violence because what matters more is the intention and not the action. If there is no intention of harming someone and if it is meant for common good, then it is not violence. As per our Shastras, when a convict is punished with death sentence for a proven murder, then it is not an act of violence and does not amount to committing a sin.

If the Dharma of Ahimsa is mandated to be followed by entire masses, it may not be followed. That is why, in our country, such codes are framed for specific segments of people. For example, Ahimsa is to be practised primarily by rishis and sages. However, there are also people in the North and South of India who choose to voluntarily abide by this philosophy. They have even been following this since generations with absolute commitment. They have chosen to be vegetarians since Ahimsa promotes vegetarianism. There are also others who stay away from non- vegetarian food on specific days, such as Full Moon, New Moon, Shashti, ancestor’s ceremonies etc. Since something impractical is not being forcefully imposed on all people, there will be people who would come forward to voluntarily follow Ahimsa.

Therefore, with the objective that Ahimsa should be considered a goal for all, Hindu religion has placed it among the Universal Codes of Dharma. As per our religion, the definition of Ahimsa is that whatever we do, there should not be any kind of hatred or animosity in our minds.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.