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safeguarding Ahimsa if the impetus of those actions was grounded in compassion. According to Gandhi, “If one does not practice Ahimsa in one's personal relations with others, and hopes to use it in bigger affairs, one is vastly mistaken. Ahimsa like charity must begin at home......... Mutual forbearance is Ahimsa. Immediately, therefore you get the conviction that Ahimsa is the law of life, you have to practice it towards those who act violently towards you, and the law must apply to nations as well as to individuals...... If the conviction is there the rest will follow.”:10% For Gandhi, Ahimsa is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than any weapon of mass destruction. It is superior to brute force. It is living force of power and no one has been or will ever be able to measure its limits or its extent. For nonviolence to be strong and effective, it must begin with the mind, without which it will be Ahimsa of the weak and cowardly. He says that only strong person can practice Ahimsa and not coward.
"A person is coward who lacks courage when facing a dangerous unpleasant situation and tries to avoid it. A man cannot practice Ahimsa and at the same time be a coward. Ahimsa is dissociated from fear. It, being infinitely superior to violence, requires a higher kind of courage, the course of dying without killing. To the person without this courage, Gandhi advises killing or being killed rather than shamefully fleeing from the danger in the name of the Ahimsa. Gandhi feels that possession of arms is not only cowardice but also lack of fearlessness or courage. Gandhi stressed this when he says, “I can imagine a fully armed man to be at heart a coward. Possession of arms implies an element of fear, if not cowardice but true Ahimsa impossibility without the possession of unadulterated fearlessness."109
Gandhi has said clearly that when there is a choice between cowardice and violence, he would prescribe violence (similar to defensive (Virodhi) himsa for householders in Jainism). Thus an
Pg.164 | Gandhi & Jainism
