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Buddhism and Hinduism also non-violence is supported on the rational ground of equality of all beings.
In Dhamampada Lord Buddha also remarks,all men tremble torture and love life and fear death, remember that you are like unto them, so do not kill nor cause slaughter. In Isopanisad it is declared “For a man who realises this truth, all beings need, become the self, when one thus sees unity, what delusion and what sorrow can one have". This idea of the Isopanisad (6 & 7) is echoed thus, in the Gita “Die man whose self has been integrated by yoga sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self; He sees the same everywhere”, Sarvatra Samadarsinah. “One who sees, by analogy with oneself, the same everywhere, whether it is pleasure or pain, the best yogi is Ātmaupamyena Samam Pasyati. (Gita, vi. 29/32).
Our classical commentators have rightly brought out the implication of this. By analogy with oneself (Ātmaupamya) when one realizes that what is good or bad for oneself must be so for others, one would always do only what is good for others. He would be engaged in the welfare of all beings (Sarvabhutahita), hating none, and with friendliness and compassion for all.
Non-violence is nothing but to treat all living being as equal. The concept of equality is the core of the theory of non-violence. The observance of nonviolence is to honour each and every form of life. According to Jaina point of view, all the beings have equal right to lead a peaceful life. Though violence is unavoidable yet it cannot be the directive principle of our living, because it goes against the judgments of our faculty of reasoning. If I think that nobody has any right to take my life on the same ground, I have also no right to take another's life. The principle, “live on others' or "living by killing' is self-contradictory. The principle of equality propounds that everyone has the right to live.
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