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Wat Mahat, Bangkok, Thailand. Photos by James Maturin-Baird
"If they abuse you, Punna, how will you react?"
"I shall think how good they are not to slap me." "But if they slap you?"
"I shall think how good they are not to throw clods at me." "But if they throw clods?"
"I shall think how good they are not to beat me with sticks." "But if they do?"
"I shall think how good they are not to stab me."
"But if they do?"
"I shall be grateful that they do not kill me."
"But if they do?"
"I shall think that some people, tired of life, look for someone to kill them. I have got that without the trouble of search." Then the Buddha declared Punna fit for his mission.
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The application of these values to public affairs is unforgettably recorded by the Emperor Asoka, who ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for the middle third of the 3rd century B.C. In his thirteenth Major Rock Edict, dated approximately 255 B.C., he records how his reign began with a war in which many people were wounded, deported or killed. Expressing his deep remorse, he says that never again will he wage aggressive war, though he does reserve the right to defend himself if he should be attacked. The text of this Edict is one of the finest public documents in human history, and should be taught to schoolchildren all over the world. It is somewhat ironic that some nationalist historians have suggested (and it can even be found in textbooks) that Asoka's successors lost power because of this non-aggressive policy. There is no evidence to support their claim, but people are reluctant to believe that nonaggression can be effective.
Since the achievements of Mahatma Gandhi, however, such a reluctance can seem almost absurd. We all know that Gandhi not only achieved spectacular success himself, but inspired great leaders who have compelled universal admiration - such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Their non-violence did sometimes lead to short-term setbacks but in the end they achieved far more than could have been obtained by violence. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, while of very different temperament, were friends and greatly admired each other. I shall conclude by reading you translations of two poems by Tagore, which Gandhi particularly liked. The translations are by my wife, Dr Sanjukta Gupta, of the famous song Ekla Chalo:
If no one responds to your call, go forward alone.
If no one talks to you, o luckless one,
If everyone turns away from you in fear,
Reveal your thoughts and express your ideas to yourself.
If everyone leaves you while you are travelling a
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dangerous road,
If no one wants to look after you,
Walk on alone, on the road strewn with thorns, trampling on them with bleeding feet.
If no one shows a light, if in the dark stormy night everyone shuts their doors,
Use your rib as a torch, lit from the fire of thunder.
The second poem is implicitly addressed to the Buddha:
The world is mad with aggression.
Always there is ruthless fighting,
Devious, among people bound by infinite greed.
All beings are yearning for you to be born anew.
O great spirit, save them and bring your words of nectar. Make the lotus of love blossom, dripping honey, O you the tranquil, the liberated, of infinite merit, Full of compassion, rid the world of its sins.
Richard Gombrich is Professor of Sanskrit at Balliol College, Oxford. The above speech was delivered at the House of Commons, UK on Ahimsa Day.
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