Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 46

Padmnabh S. Jaini, 'Ahimsa and the Question of "Just War”
occupations. There remained, however, a certain grey area that could not be so explicitly characterized as either expressly evil or provisionally acceptable. This is the area known as the "just war” or violence in defense of one's property, honor, family, community, or nation. In this matter, the individual had to take into account not only the duties to himself but to society as a whole. The duty of Jaina mendicant in this case was quite clear: he must not retaliate in any way and must be willing to lay down his own life in order to keep his vow of total nonviolence. For a Jaina layman, however, appropriate conduct is not so clear cut. There were always situations in which violence would be a last resort in guiding the interests of himself and his community. The Jaina lawgivers of medieval times accorded with customary Hindu law in these matters. Somdeva (c. tenth century), for example, stipulated that “only a king should strike down those enemies of his kingdom who appear on the battlefield bearing arms, but never those people who are downtrodden, weak, or who are friends."
For a religion that expected so much from its followers in terms of keeping the vows of ahimsā, such perfunctory advice on the legitimacy of Jaina participation in warfare must be considered a serious oversight. Nevertheless, there are indications both in canonical scriptures (some portions of which may go back to 500 BCE) and in much later narrative literature that the Jaina lawgivers were concerned about this problem and recognized the contradictions inherent in the expression, “just
war.”
One attempt to resolve this problem is indicated by the term virodhi-himsă: that is, countering violence with violence. The Jainas allowed that such violence could be justified, albeit as a final resort, for the Jaina layman whose conscience demanded that he defend his rights or for one who was called upon to fight by his king. However, as the following narrative will show, the
Yaśastilaka-campū, (Bombay: Nirnaysagara Press, 1903), pp. ii, 97.
For Private & P3sonal Use Only