अहिंसा
Ahimsa
ahiṃsā
In simple words
Ahimsa means not causing harm to any living being. It is a shared ethical ideal across Jain, Buddhist and Hindu traditions, but they differ on how strictly and how widely it applies.
What is it?
Ahimsa is the first of Yoga's restraints (yamas) and the central principle of Jain ethics. In Jainism it is extended with great rigour to all life, including insects and plants, shaping diet, occupation and monastic practice. Buddhism places non-harm in its first precept. The Gita lists non-violence among divine qualities while also urging Arjuna to fight — a tension that commentators and modern readers, including Gandhi, interpret in different ways.
Scholar’s note
Jain ethics distinguishes great vows (mahavrata) for monastics and lesser vows (anuvrata) for laity. Debates on the Gita's stance include allegorical readings (the battle as inner struggle) and readings that distinguish personal non-harm from the duty of protection. Mimamsa's treatment of ritual animal sacrifice as exempt from the general prohibition was contested by Jains, Buddhists and later Hindu reformers.How its meaning differs
Ahimsa is the supreme principle: harming any living being binds karmic matter to the soul, so conduct is ordered around minimising harm to all forms of life.
Abstaining from killing is the first precept; harm rooted in hatred is unwholesome and brings suffering, and compassion is actively cultivated.
Non-harm is the first yama and the foundation of the other disciplines.
The epics praise non-harm as the highest dharma while also depicting just war and protection as duty, holding the two in tension.
The Tirukkural strongly commends non-killing and compassion as marks of virtue.
Where it appears in the Gita
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिस्तपो दानं यशोऽयश:।
बुद्धि, ज्ञान, असम्मोह, क्षमा, सत्य, दम, शम तथा सुख, दु:ख, उत्पत्ति, विनाश, भय, अभय और अहिंसा, समता, सन्तोष, तप, दान, यश और अपयश— प्राणियोंके (ये) अनेक प्रकारके अलग-अलग (बीस) भाव मुझसे ही होते हैं।
13.7अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा
अपनेमें श्रेष्ठताका भाव न होना, दिखावटीपन न होना, अहिंसा, क्षमा, सरलता, गुरुकी सेवा, बाहर-भीतरकी शुद्धि, स्थिरता (और) मनका वशमें होना।
16.2अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्याग: शान्तिरपैशुनम्।
अहिंसा, सत्यभाषण, क्रोध न करना, संसारकी कामनाका त्याग, अन्त:करणमें राग-द्वेषजनित हलचलका न होना, चुगली न करना, प्राणियोंपर दया करना, सांसारिक विषयोंमें न ललचाना, अन्त:करणकी कोमलता, अकर्तव्य करनेमें लज्जा, चपलताका अभाव।
17.14देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनं
देवता, ब्राह्मण, गुरुजन और जीवन्मुक्त महापुरुषका यथायोग्य पूजन करना, शुद्धि रखना, सरलता, ब्रह्मचर्यका पालन करना और हिंसा न करना— (यह) शरीर-सम्बन्धी तप कहा जाता है।
Where else it appears
Follow this idea
Trace the idea from one source to the next.
- 1Traditionजैन दर्शनJain philosophyThe tradition that places non-harm at the very centre.
- 2Textतत्त्वार्थसूत्रTattvartha SutraThe classic summary of Jain doctrine, including the vows.
- 3Textयोगसूत्रYoga Sutras of PatanjaliNon-harm as the first restraint.
- 4Gita verseBhagavad Gita 16.2Non-violence among the divine qualities.
- 5Gita verseBhagavad Gita 13.7Non-violence as a mark of knowledge.
- 6TextमहाभारतMahabharataThe epic's tension between non-harm and the duty to fight.
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