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
and sons on the other. Similarly, the so-called Mahabharata War (the Great War) between the five Pandava brothers and the Kauravas seems to have been a series of single-handed fights between the former and the generals of the latter who took the field one after the other.
In later times, this Ahimsite character of Indian wars certainly deteriorated. But, then the Indians had to engage in defensive encounters against foreigners like the Nagas, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Sakas, Kusbanas, Hupas, Arabs and Turks, and later the Europeans, who were mostly fierca, ruthless, savage, rapacious and unscrupulous peoples and invaded Iudia, one after the other, in order to loot and plunder the wealth of and rule over this highly cultured, rich and coveted subcontinent. In order to thwart their nefarious attempts the Indians had to match their valour, strength and skill with those of the aggressors. Even then, in their own wars, the Indians generally followed their old moral code and practice. But, whenever they tried to do so as against the foreigners, they had mostly to suffer. Even in mediaeval times, the few kings like Akbar the Mughal, who adopted a policy of comparative leniency, moderation, tolerance and consideration, succeeded in making their empires very vast, powerful, rich, prosperous and lasting. The British, too, had to follow in the r footsteps in order to establish through and stable control over this country. And, again, it was Abimsa in the hands of Mahatma Gandhi who, using it as an effective political weapon in bis non-cooperation, civil disobedience, boycott, Satyagraha and quitIndia movements, roused the entire country and finally succeeded in achieving independence for the country.
We have witnessed two great world wars in the present century and the untold misery and destruction of life and property which they brought in their wake. The menace of war is not yet over, although thinkers all over the world are realising that war is no solution to the problems of mankind, and that war can never end war.
Some say that the habit of killing and making life intolerable is an inevitable element in human nature, or that "Man is a beast of prey', as Spengler would put it. But wars are inevitable only as long as we regard power politics as natural. No sane person has or would ever advocate war. The reputed soldier, Duke of Wellington, remarked, "Take my word for it, if you had seen but one day of war you would pray to Almighty God that you might never again see an hour o war", As Leo Tolstoy avers, "The purpose of war is murder; its tools are spying, treason and the encouragement of treason, the ruin of the inhabitants, robbing