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ANUVRATA: A SOLUTION FOR WORLD
religiously, ethically, socially, politically and psychologically important and necessary. The instinct of love, compassion (karuņā,) furnishes the basis of ahimsā.
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The term ahimsa has its origin in himsā 'himsi' in its root, which means killing or destroying or hurting a living being. And the opposite of it, is ahimsa, i.e., non-killing, non-destroying or non-injury." Since ahimsa is a negative term it may be taken literally as purely negative in character, and can be inferred from it that ahimsa simply means not-killing, non- injury or non-destruction of living being. The positive side of it by way of protecting a living being is not connected with the moral principle of ahimsa and therefore it has no value in itself.10
Social behavioural aspect of Jain religion is marked by observance of non-violence. In Acārānga-sūtra11 Mahāvīra expounded,' the worthy men of past, present and future will say thus, speak thus and explain thus; all breathing, existing, living and sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, not tormented. '
Acaranga-sūtra begins with the instructions on non-violence and also how to prevent to each and every living being from violence. 12 Most of the āgamas are replete with full of the instructions of nonviolence, i.e., the name of first lesson of Acārānga-sūtra is Śastraparijñā. The meaning of Sastra is the instrument or means of violence. 13 Also Amṛtacandra Sūri1 defines ahimsā as the absence of attachment, passions etc. The observance of non-violence is of the form of non-origin of attachment and unchangeable law or tenet of the religion. Acārya Pūjyapāda15 and Acārya Akalanka1also considered non-violence as the characteristic of religion.
The Positive Role of Non-Violence (Ahimsa) in World Peace: It will, thus, appear that the principle of non-violence far from being a negative percept as the term suggests in its practical application, is a positive principle of the farthest reach. It points to a wholesale transformation in the internal government of state as well as in their
