Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 1

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 166

THE JAIN IDEAL OF AHIMSA...
155
"I have therefore ventured to place before India the ancient law of self-sacrifice. For satyagraha and its offshoots, non-cooperation and civil resistance are nothing but new names for the law of selfsuffering. The rșis, who discovered the law of non-violence were greater geniuses than Newton. They were themselves greater warriors than Wellington. Having themselves known the use of arms they realized their uselessness and taught a weary world that its salvation lay not through violence but through non-violence.
"Non-violence in its dynamic conditon means conscious suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil-doer, but it means the pitting of one's whole soul against the will of the tyrant. Working under this law of our being, it is possible for a single individual to defy the whole might of an unjust empire to save his honour, his religion, his soul and lay the foundation for that empire's fall or its regeneration."
Gandhi did not approve of the killing of evil-doer or tyrant on the analogy of killing of animal pests that destroy a farmer's crops, because the former is not considered beyond reform whereas society as yet knows of no means by which to effect a change of heart in the latter. (Cf. HD, 226-7).
Gandhi's self-purification as a pre-condition of satyagraha and his 'participation' in war find their parallel in the life of a lay disciple of Lord Mahāvīra. It is recorded in the Bhagavatisülra, VII. 9, that Varuna, the grandson of Naga, was conscripted by the Ruling Chief of Vaisali for service in the Rathamusala War against King Kapika (Ajātasatru). In preparation for the war, he started observing his religious penances with redoubled vigour and entered the battlefield with the vow that he would strike in self-defence only at him who will at ack him first, and at none else. Being eventually shot with a deadly arrow by the enemy, he drew his bow and killed him. And realizing that the sands of life were running out, he retired to a solitary place, offered prayer, took the vow of absolute observance of ahimsā and drew his last breath to be reborn in heaven. Varuņa fought the battle in fulfilment of a public duty that he thought he owed to the state, without however compromising his religious ideal of ahimsa. He did not go to war as an aggressor, but purely in self-defence. He retired from the war without the feeling of animosity against anybody and strived for the realization of perfect ahimsa. The example of revengeless war, set by Varuna, should be considered as an ancient prototype of Gandhi's satyagraha as explained above.