Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 4

Author(s): R P Poddar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 4
not only his own personal enemies but also from those of the society and the country. All such activities involve violence, but a sape, judicious and brave person will see to it that the unavoidable minimum of violence is exercised. He suppresses crime, punishes the wrongdoer, subdues or drives out the enemy, but is never cruel, revengeful or vindictive, rather, he tends to be considerate and forgiving, once the evil is undone.
This Ahimsite way of thinking and living was cultivated and inculcated into the minds of the people by our sages, ancient, mediaeval and modern, right from Bhagawan Rishabha, the First Tirthamkara, down to Mahatma Gandhi. Himsa and Ahimsa have always coexisted in man's world, but in India Ahimsa generally seems to have had an upperhand. Its far-reaching influence is not far to seek. The adherents of the Shramanic creeds have always been Abimsite by conviction, but not so were the nonShramanic peoples. In due course, however, they, too, car.e to imbibe the spirit of Ahimsa. The result was that bloody sacrifices in the name of religion went out of use, slavery waz abolished, vegetarianism gained ground, amity and cooperation and a tolerant regard for the beliefs and ideas of others developed Peaceful coexistence came to be upheld as the basis of society. There is no doubt that Ahimsa has to a considerable extent acted as a great spiritual as well as moral force in human affairs in the Indian society, and, perhaps, in all really civilized societies.
The political life of the country, too, could not have remained quite untouched by the spirit of Ahimsa or the general Abimsite attitude explained above. Politics, the art and science of government, has for its basis the State, the body politic or the organisation thereof, which includes the executive, legislative and judicial wings, the civil and military authorities, the rulers, statesmen, ministers, administrators, the army and the entire governmental machinery, and inter-state relations. As such, the political aspect is, perhaps, the most effective and all-pervasive aspect of the life of a people or a nation. In fact, the history of a country is in the main its political history. And, since the political life of a people can never be absolutely cut off or separated from its general tenor, there is ample evidence to show that Ahimsa generally acted as political force as well in Indian history, particularly prior to the advent of the Muslims on the Indian political scene, about the beginning of the 13th century A.D. There were, no doubt, exceptions, but they only proved the rule.
As laid down by ancient politicists like Somadeva Suri, the existence of the State depended on succession and prowess. But even in ancient India, successions to the throne were not always regular, smooth and