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Religion, Practice and Science of Non-Violence
Mira, one of the greatest woman saints of India, was inflicted with every imaginable torture by her king husband. But according to a legend, her sheer devotion to Krishna, made her the victor in the end. "Rana sends a cup of poison, Go and give it into the hands of Mirā," she records in a song. And then, "Mirā drank it as if it were nectar. The Lord of the Universe protected her.” Narasimha of Gujarāt is said to have had a similar experience. The king of Junāgarh, in order to test the poet's sainthood, put him in an empty cell and then told his victim to produce a garland from the Lord before morning, or else he would be executed. The devotee-poet prayed to his master throughout the night, and Krishna sent him an exquisite garland at dawn.
Hundreds of such legends, alongwith innumerable mystic songs, have created in India a general belief in the efficacy of love, bhakti and non-violence. The saints of the Middle Ages, are still a living force in the religious and cultural life of India.
Some of the songs and verses composed by the saints of India regarding their faith in non-violence are as follows: It is the speciality of a tree
That it returneth good for evil. He who loppeth its branches, sitteth in its shade;
And it returneth him good for evil. It gives the fruit when clods are thrown at it.
When carved into a boat, it saveth him who carved it. Few are the holy men who, like trees, serve God's servants.
As thou deemest thyself, so deem others.
Then shalt thou become a partner in heaven.? To use force is tyranny, though thou call it lawful. Chinese Teacher-Sages
While other civilisations and lands produced prophets, priests and ascetics, the Chinese civilisation produced teacher-sages, who evolved a way of life to preserve and improve the human society in which they lived. They occupied an eminent place in
1'Bhai Gur Dass' Analysis, war 26. Macauliffe, Sikh Religion, 4.260, 261. 2 Kabir's hymns, asa 17: Macauliffe, 6.205. 3 Ibid, 6.307.
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