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the Buddhists and the Jainas. The sutra texts developed around the Vedas give us some contradictory views from different sources, and mention names of some known or unknown "authors" or followers of their traditions or schools. Different sutra texts actually came into existence in different times and different regions. The dharmsūtras abound in materials relevant to the ahiṁsā concept, and furnish social and cultural aspects of the society. But it is rather risky to rely exclusively on them to derive a real picture of the society so far as the ethical conduct of the peoples of those days is concerned. Over and above these we can also tap some materials from the early Jātak stories antedating Buddhism and Jainism, and some recent researches based on the discovered materials of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
At the concluding stage of the monograph, Dr. Bhatt explains that the concept of Ahimsā with it privative prefix, though giving a negative meaning of noninjury, implies only a positive sense, viz., subjective-fellow-feelings and compassion (dayā) towards all living beings. This is the basic idea underlying almost all Indian religions. So also the word abhaya which, though it literally means 'abstention from fear' denotes a positive sense of "secure", "safe", or
dent”: asteya denotes “respect for others' property”. The vow of ahimsă is to refrain oneself from the animal instinct of himsā, and this stage is achieved by means of discipline-vow (vrata). As regards ahiṁsā in modern world, Dr. Bhatt points out that the doctrine of ahiṁsā was widened its field of applicability and employment in different situations, and some new concepts have emerged in different perspectives. As an ethic of non-violence it played a prominent role in the politics of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi considered the ahimsā as the only means of realization of Truth which he equated with God. Winding up his discussion of the topic, Dr. Bhatt has offered some casual observations regarding vegetarianism and the ahiṁsā doctrine in general. Plants and vegetables, seeds and cereals, whether sentient or not, are most essential in day to day diet for everybody, and are considered as the vegetable food, the real vegetarianism. If we exclude them from our daily diet only on the ground that they are sentinent and it is in eating them, we would be deprived of food and suffer from hunger for the whole of life. On the contrary, we have to use them in our diet; we have to “kill” them while calling ourselves vegetarians. It is a paradox, but quite inevitable, unavoidable and a lesser evil than the one involved in eating meat, fish and eggs, which is certainly a cruelty to the
