Gandhi on Ahimsa (Non-violence)

Gandhi on Ahimsa (Non-violence)

Thousands of years before Gandhiji put non-violence (Ahimsa) into action and even Mahavir preached non-violence and founded Jainism, non-violence has been a core principle of Hinduism. 

अहिंसा परमॊ धर्मस तथाहिंसा परॊ दमः

अहिंसा परमं दानम अहिंसा परमस तपः

अहिंसा परमॊ यज्ञस तथाहिंसा परं बलम

अहिंसा परमं मित्रम अहिंसा परमं सुखम

अहिंसा परमं सत्यम अहिंसा परमं श्रुतम् ||

Ahimsa is the highest virtue, Ahimsa is the highest self-control;

Ahimsa is the greatest gift, Ahimsa is the best suffering;

Ahimsa is the highest sacrifice, Ahimsa is the finest strength;

Ahimsa is the greatest friend, Ahimsa is the greatest happiness;

Ahimsa is the highest truth, Ahimsa is the greatest teaching.

• Mahabharata - Anushashana Parva

Gandhiji understood Hinduism better than most. Hinduism believes in the oneness of all souls (Tat Tvam Asi - that you are), not of merely all human life but in the oneness of all that lives. So, Ahimsa is just a natural outcome of this foundational belief. This key principle of Hinduism was the source of Gandhiji’s strong faith in Ahimsa (Non-violence). He said, “Nonviolence is common to all religions, but it has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism. (I do not regard Jainism or Buddhism as separate from Hinduism).” 

Here, I have made a conscious effort to let Gandhiji directly talk to the readers, rather than risking any misinterpretation from my side due to the limitations of my understanding. That’s why I have used his direct quotes as much as possible, with a little commentary of mine.

Gandhiji said, “Ahimsa is not merely a negative state of harmlessness, but it is a positive state of love, of doing good even to the evil-doer. But it does not mean helping the evil-doer to continue the wrong or tolerating it by passive acquiescence. On the contrary, love, the active state of Ahimsa requires you to resist the wrong-doer by dissociating yourself from him, even though it may offend him or injure him physically.”

• Young India, 25-8-'20, p. 2 

Gandhi’s principle of non-violence was never a passive one. No one should confuse that with cowardice. In fact, it takes infinite courage to practice true non-violence. A fully armed man can be a coward at heart, because he is driven by fear and anger, and not courage. Whereas, a true practitioner of nonviolence is driven by courage, born out of love, empathy, and belief in the truth and the righteous cause. Imagine a non-violent freedom fighter who has just been bled to unconsciousness by British lathis (sticks) right in front of you, now stepping up knowing the same is going to be your fate as well, how much courage must it take? Lucky people like us, who were born free, cannot even imagine the amount of courage and belief in your cause it takes to embrace such a fate like that! That’s the power of non-violence and belief. Gandhiji inspired that courage in millions!    

“I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence... But I believe that non-violence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment. Forgiveness adorns a soldier. But abstinence is forgiveness only when there is the power to punish; it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature.”

Young India, 11-8-'20, p. 3

Gandhi’s Ahimsa never condones weakness. He wants one to be strong. Ahimsa looks like a jewel only on a strong and brave person, because his/her ahimsa is by choice! क्षमा वीरस्य भूषणम् ("Forgiveness adorns the brave.")  

“That non-violence can work to a certain extent in the hands of the weak is true. It has so worked with us. But when it becomes a cloak for our weakness, it emasculates us. Far better than emasculation would be the bravery of those who use physical force. Far better than cowardice would be meeting one's death fighting. We were perhaps all originally brutes, and I am prepared to believe that we have become men by a slow process of evolution from the brute. We were thus born with brute strength, but we were born men in order to realize God who dwells in us. That indeed is the privilege of man, and it distinguishes him from the brute creation. But to realize God is to see Him in all that lives, i.e. to realize our oneness with all creation. This is impossible unless we voluntarily shun physical force and develop conscious non-violence that is latent in every one of us. This can only come out of strength.”

Harijan, 2-4-'38, p. 65

One of his gurus was his wife Kastur ba.

“I learned the lesson of nonviolence from my wife when I tried to bend her to my will. Her determined resistance to my will, on the one hand, and her quiet submission to the suffering my stupidity involved, on the other, ultimately made me ashamed of myself and cured me of my stupidity in thinking that I was born to rule over her and, in the end, she became my teacher in nonviolence.”

Practicing non-violence can be hard. And we all are bound to “fail” at times while practicing it. But, as Gandhiji said…

“Ahimsa is a science. The word 'failure' has no place in the vocabulary of science. Failure to obtain the expected result is often the precursor to further discoveries”.

Harijan, 6-5-'39, p. 113

Let’s keep practicing non-violence through our actions, words, and thoughts!