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BANERJEE : JAINISM AND NON-VIOLENCE
163
ahimsä paramo yajñas tathāhimsā paramam
phalam / ahimsā paramam mitram ahimsā paramam
sukham / ahimsā paramam satyam ahimsā paramam śrutam ||
"Ahimsā is the highest sacrifice, and in the same way ahimsā is the highest fruit; ahimsā is the highest friend, ahimsā is the highest happiness; ahimsā is the highest truth, ahimsā is the highest knowledge."
sarva-yajñeşu vā dānam sarva-tīrtheşu vā plutam / sarva-dāna-phalam vāpi naitat tulyan ahimsayā //
"Or ahimsā is the best gift in all sacrifices, it is a raft (boat) in all tirthas; or even is the result of all gifts, nothing can be compared with ahimsā."
Even though Krşņa is forcing Arjuna to lodge a war against his relatives and kinsmen, there are passages in the Gītā (X. 5; XII. 13, XIII. 7; XVI. 2. VII. 14) where lots of encomiums are showered on ahimsā which prove beyond doubt that it has a significant place in Hindu religion as well.
Whether this portion of the Mahābhārata is greatly influenced by Jainism or not, is a matter of speculation now.
Ahimsā in the Purāņas
We have lots of quotations from the Purāņas where in many places ahimsā is eulogised to a great extent. In the Padma, Vişnu, Mārkandeya, Siva, and in many others, non-injury is greatly extolled. It is not possible to cite all these quotations here. Only one or two examples are sufficient to understand the spirit of non-violence. In the Padmapurāna, it is said -
andhe tamasi mājjāmaḥ paśubhir ye yajāmahe / himsā nāma bhaved dharmo na bhūto na bhavişyati ||
“Those who do sacrifice with animals they are plunged in blind darkness, that sort of religion is himsā (killing)."
