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201
26) In this Our Life considered to be a sin. In the Yasastilaka, Somadeva forbids the Kşatriya to indulge in indiscrete killing even in battle.
We are here reminded of Gandhiji's words when he said that violence is preferred to cowardice. He exhorted the Indian women to resist the attacks of the gundas even with violence, if necessary. He said 'I do believe that where there is a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Hence it was that I took part in the Boer War, so called Zulu Rebellion and the late War.108 But Gandhiji said that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence. Forgiveness adorns the soldier. For the Jainas also, non-violence is not the policy of the weak. It needs self-control. A self-controlled man is free from fear, fear of doing injury or injustice. The bases of Ahimsā must be self-confidence and peace of mind. A coward has no moral strength to observe non-violence. One who stands courageous and undisturbed in the face of violence is a true follower of ahimsā. He looks at the enemy as a friend. Gandhiji said that a mouse hardly forgives a cat when it allows itself to be torn to pieces by her.108 He said non-violence is the law of our species, while violence is the law of the brute.
Non-violence is not mere non-injury in the negative sense. It has also a positive content. It implies the presence of cultivated and noble sentiments, like kindness and compassion for all living creatures. It also implies self-sacrifice. The Buddha renounced the pleasures of the world out of compassion for all living creatures. Jesus was filled with compassion when he said “whoever shall smite thee in the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”:110 He demanded self-sacrifice. In the Yašastilaka, Somadeva enumerates qualities that should be cultivated to realise the ideal of ahimsā. The qualities are
108. Young India, August 11, 1920, Doctrine of the Sword. 109. Young India, August 11, 1920. 110. Mathew, 5, 39-42.
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