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Ahimsa the Law
of Nature
Shri G. C. Dhariwal
Every living being wants to live and live in peace, free from fear of any kind, in a state of Abhaya. We can better appreciate such a state of existence, if we compare it with our present state of living surrounded as we are with all sorts of turmoils, fears and worries. A state of existence free from fear, may appear impossible of attainment in the world, but that fact cannot in any way detract from the beauty and the bliss of such an existence if it were possible. If we regard the two sorts of existence as two extremes, there must certainly be intermediate stages. We see around us, that all beings are not miserable or happy to the same degree. We can, therefore, accept the state of complete freedom from fear as an ideal, keeping which in view, we can, step by step, reduce our miseries and increase our happiness. This is a common-sense view of our state of existence and no scriptures need be quoted in support of it.
If you want to live in peace and free from fear, it is natural that you should be surrounded by such an atmosphere of perfect ideal peace and naturally the prerequisite for it is that you should be an object which creates no fear in the mind of others. And, if everybody leads such a life, there would be no misery or unhappiness or fear in this world. But leading such a life presupposes that man is free from those vices which create fear, for example, anger, avarice, greed, hatred, jealousies, etc., which we may call callousness, and possesses the opposite qualities which we may include in the term compassion.
If we accept freedom from fear as an ideal, we must individually and collectively restrain ourselves, if not completely abstain from acts which create or encourage callousness or Himsa and do acts which create compassion or Ahimsa. Thus Ahimsa is a rule of life and a giver of peace and freedom from fear which is a natural desire of every living being, and Himsa i. e. callousness in all its forms is just the opposite, the cause of misery, worry, unhappiness, ill-will, enmity between individuals as well as groups of individuals, nations and blocks of nations.
Now, it is easier to get angry than to control anger, easier to hate than to love, easier to be cruel or callous than to be merciful and compassionate. Compassion or Ahimsa, the rule of life, requires the control of Self against evil propensities. This should, therefore, be the basis of all education and training. Then only we can expect the world to travel along the path of peace and freedom from fear and not by increasing callousness in the world.
Now let us consider the realities of the world, the actions and reactions of human conduct, and see how the world is moving more and more towards callousness. You try to kill a man. As soon as the other man comes to know of your intention, the fear of death and the instinct of self-preservation creates an urge for self-defence and hatred against you. He comes to the conclusion 'Kill or be killed'. The same feeling arises in you also. Each one of you thinks of nothing else but to kill the other. Callousness increases in both of you. Then both of
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