CHAPTER V

AHIMSA AND THE CONCEPT OF TRUTH

"Ahimsa is the soul of Truth. Man is a mere animal

without it". (Young India. 12-11-1925)

According to Gandhi there is a spirtual and moral

dicipline for the realisation of Truth. That is
Satyagraha. Satyagraha is fundamentally rooted in
Ahimsa. Infact, Satyagraha is only a practical
expression of Ahimsa. It is thus that Ahimsa becomes a
significant principle in Gandhi's Philosophy. Infact,
Truth, Satyagraha and Ahimsa are the three basics of
Gandhi's thought. Truth is the Spiritual, Absolute
Reality which he calls God. The purest means to Truth
or God is Ahimsa. Satyagraha is the practical.
discipline or the way of life adopted by a non-violent
man who aims at Truth-realisation. This is how Gandhi
correlates Truth, Ahimsa and Satyagraha. He puts it
thus, "Satyagraha is the search for Truth and God is
Truth. Ahimsa or· Non-Violence is the light that reveals
Truth for me,,1. This, we may note, is the clearest
statement of his philosophical stand point, his world
 142

view (weltanchuang).

From this it can be seen that in his phil osophy ,

Truth and Ahimsa are inseparable. He deduces Ahimsa
from Truth. The statement that Truth is God pre-
supposes Ahimsa as the only means. As stated earlier,
Truth or God is the sumtotal of all that is. It is the
all-pervading, all- comprehensive principle, infinite,
eternal . and changel ess. In short it is the Real of
the reals (Satyasya Sat yam) . It is understandable that
such an infinite principle cannot be realised fully by
finite man. He can have only glimpses of Truth. But
Gandhi assures us that the perfect vision of Truth can
be attained through complete realisation of Ahimsa.
Listen to this, "My uniform experience has convinced me
that there is no other God than Truth ... The little
fleeting glimpses, therefore, that I have been able to
have of Truth can hardly convey only the indescribable
lustre of Truth a million times more intens~ than that
of the sun we daily see with our eyes. In fact what I
have caught is only a faintest glimmer of that mighty
effulgence. But this much I can say with assurance, as
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a result of all my experiments that a perfect vision of

Truth can only follow a complete realisation of
Ahimsa"Z.(Italics ours)

Ahimsa is the law of human species, as violence is

the law of the brute. The spiritual law lies dormant
in animal creation. But in the human being the
spiritual law is active and the dignity of man lies in
the obedience to this higher spiritual law. But often
man is in a dilemma. It is very difficult to decide
what is non-violence. There are certain forms of
violence which are unavoidable like tilling the soil,
use of disinfectants. killing mad dogs etc. Yet we have
to live a life of non-violence. Gandhi's contention is
that if we cling to Truth we can live non-violently in
the midst of violence. To quote his words, "But often
enough it is difficult to decide which is non-violence.
For instance the use of disinfectants is violence. Yet
we cannot do without it. We have to live a life of
violenc~ in the world full of violence and that is
possible only if we cling to Truth. That is how I
deduce non-violence from Truth".3 He adds, "Man cannot
 144

for a moment be living without consciously or

unconsciously committing outward himsa. The very fact
of his living, eating, drinking and. moving about
necessarily involves some himsa, destruction of life, be
it ever so minute. A votary of Ahimsa, the~efore,

remains true to his faith if the main spring of all his

actions is compassion, if he shuns to the best of his
ability, the destruction of the tiniest creature, tries
to save it and thus incessantly strives to be free from
the deadly coil of himsa. He will be constantly growing
in self-restraint and compassion but can never become
entirely free from outward himsa,,4.(Italics ours)

Gandhi makes Ahimsa the essential means to Truth

realisation
. mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the full
realisation of Truth, the Absolute Reality is a human
impossibility. We, imperfect human beings, have to
remain satisfied with partial realisation of it. Then
there is the possibility that the relative truth of one
may come into conflict with the relative truth of
another. But if each individual cultivates a non-violent
attitude of toleration, mutual understanding and
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non-injury either by thought, word or deed, each can

cling on to his own conviction and reach the Absolute
Truth. Gandh~ became convinced of this idea as he
proceeded in his search for Truth. He says "As I proceed
in my search for Truth it grows upon me that Truth
comprehends everything. It is not in non-violence but
non-violence is in it. What is perceived by a pure heart
and intellect is truth for that nmoment. Clinging to it,
one is enabled to reach Absolute Truth,,5

Secondly, Ahimsa is considered as the means because

it is within our reach. Truth is the end to be
.
reached. He says" Means to be means must be within our
reach and so Ahimsa is our supreme duty and Truth
becomes God for us. If we take care of the means, we
are bound to reach the end sooner or later. If we
resolve to do this we shall have won the battle.
Whatever difficulties we encounter whatever apparent
reverses we sustain, we should not lose faith but should
ever repeat one mantra; Truth exists, It alone exists".
It is the only God and there is but one way of realizing
it, there is but one means and that is ahimsa".6
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It can be seen that in certain contexts Gandhi

assserts that Truth and Ahimsa are one and the same
thing. They are just like the two sides of the same
coin. It is practically impossible to separate. them.
But even here we can see that he is always partial to
Truth and Truth is conceived as the ultimate reality.
The reason he states thus, "I am partial to Truth. In
the final analysis, there can be a single reality. The
highest Truth stands by Itself. Truth is the end, Ahimsa
is the means there to,,7. He considers Ahimsa as the
soul. of Truth. He states, "Renuncation of the flesh is
essential for realizing Truth. The sage who realized
Truth found non-violence out of violence ranging all
about him and said violence is unreal, non-viol.ence is
real. Realisation of Truth is impossible without
non-violence. Brahmacharya (Celibacy) . Asteya
(Non-stealing), Aparigraha (Non-possession) are the
means to achieve Ahimsa. Ahimsa is the soul of Truth.
Man is a mere .animal without it,,8
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This observation of the relation between Truth and

Ahimsa in his thought brings out two main
considerations. Firstly, Ahimsa as means to Truth is
the law of life of human beings, that is, Love. This
love towards all creations is the practical expression
of the Vedantic principle, Unity of all life Thus the
concept of Ahimsa has an ontological significance. This
is evident from his words, "Underlying Ahimsa is the
unity of all life,,9 Secondly, Ahimsa is a quality of
mind which is the outcome of a perfect co-ordination of
thought, word and deed. Thus the concept of Ahimsa has
an ethical significance as well. These two
considerations are of equal importance in his thought.
Ahimsa as an ethical principle of non-injury in thought,
word and deed necessarily leads to the cultivation of
perfected state of love towards all living creatures.

To the question whether Gandhi's metaphysics is

rooted in his ethics or his ethics is derived from
metaphysics, one can only answer that his ethical ideas
are meaningful only in relation to his metaphysics.
Ethical life is only a means to his primary goal,
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realisation of spiritual principle, Truth. Ahimsa has

significance only as the means to the realisation of the
supreme Reality, Truth or God. Non-violence reveals
Truth. The vindication of Truth through non-violent
means is the duty of a truthful man. A truthfpl man
always believes in the existence of the spirit over and
above the mind-body complex. The moment a man awakens
to the spirit in him, he overcomes animal passions and
becomes non-violent 10 . That is, he realizes his oneness
with other creatures.

Thus we can say that non-violence towards all

living creatures is only a corollary of the Vedantic
Truth - Unity of all life. Unto Tahtinen points out,
"It would' be posssible to affirm that non-violence
towards all living being is a l.ogical and practical
outcome of the teaching of the Upanisads, i . e, the
identity of Atman and Brahman, Unity and oneness of all
life,,11. He further quotes the words of
Dr.Radhakrishnan on the Philosophy of the Upanisads.
"They point out that there is no meaning in asking us to
love our neighbour or achieve the unity of the worl.d in
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love, if exclusiveness and difference were fundamental

in the lives of men. If men were really external to
each other like the Leibinizean monads, .without the
corrective of the pre-established harmony then the
ethical ideal is impossible of realisation. If we are
called upon to love our neighbour it is because all are
one in reality,,12

Swami Vivekananda, the great Practical Vedantin

asserts that the Infinite Oneness of the soul is the
eternal sanction of all morality. To quote his words,
"Ethics cannot be derived from the mere sanction of any
personage, howeuer great and divine he may have been
And where is that eternal sanction to be found except in
the only I~finite Reality that exists in you and in me
and in all in the self, in the soul? The Infinite
Oneness of the soul is the eternal sanction of all
morality .. That you and I are not only brothers ....
every literature voicing man's struggle towards freedom
has preached that for you but that you and I are really
One. This is the dictate of Indian Phil osophy. This
Oneness is the rationale of all ethics and
 150

spirituality"13 (Italics Ours)

In this context it is useful to examine the meaning

of ahimsa and Gandhi's interpretation of ahimsa as an
ethical principl.e. Etymologically ahimsa is composed of
three elements, 'a' (not) 'hims' (verb to kill or
injure) and 'a'(nominal suffix), So the first meaning
is often thought to be non-killing of living beings.
However, at an early stage it also meant refraining from
inflicting physical injury, which can in extreme cases
result in death. Therefore,' its original meaning is
more general than non-killing because himsa does not
necessarily involve death of sentient creatures. The
etymological meaning is thus 'not injuring the vitality
(Prana) of a living being' .14

In the Upani~ads we find this doctrine is

emphasised not as the supreme virtue but along with
other virtues. For instance, the Chandogya Upani~ad

tells us "Austerity, alms-giving, uprightness,

non-violence, truth-fulness, these are the gifts of
sacrifice,,15
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The Bhagavad Gita also emphasises the doctrine of

ahimsa. In the list of virtues 16 to be cultivated by a

struggling soul, ahimsa is included. But it is not

considered as .the supreme duty. On the other hand, the
Gita advises us to perform Varna~ramadharma. For the
establishment of Dharma (Righteousness), the Glta even
permits violence, Kri~na advises, that the duty of a
Kshatriya isto fight, for righteous war is an open door
to heaven 17 He asks us to cultivate a state of
desirelessness (nishakma) and fulfil duty's pertaining
to one's station in life even if it leads to violence of
some kind.

Jainism considers ahimsa as the supreme duty of man.

"Ahimsa Paramodharma" is the watch word of Jaina ethics.
The Jaina conception of ahimsa is the logical outcome of
the metaphysical theory of potential equality of souls.
According to it life exists not only in moving things
but also in non-moving things. Therefore, we should
avoid injuring life not only of moving creatures but
also of non-moving creatures. Thus Jainism means by
ahimsa non-killing of organic life. According to it
 152

every soul, however, lowly now, can become as great as

any other soul. Therefore respect for life wherever
found is considered as the primary duty. Jainism also
insists that it' is not sufficient not to take life, one
should not even think and speak of taking li~e, nor
permit and encourage others to take life 18 .

In Buddhism, ahimsa as refraining from destruction

of life ~s given primary importance. Ahimsa stands for
a mental state of love and good - will towards
sentient creatures. UntoTahtinen observes that this
state of mind may be best described as benevolence. To
quote, "What we call benvolence is to be understood to
comprise love, kindness, friendship, sympathy, mercy,
pity and other kindered virtuous feelings and actions
which are mostly expressed by the pali words metta,
karuna, mudita, anukampa, anuddaya, ahimsa avera and
some others possessing the same meaning. The chief
function of this virtue is to ward off pain and
suffering from other living beings, whether human or
non-human, and further promote pleasure and happiness".19
 153

From the above analysis of the conception of

Ahimsa, it is evident that Ahimsa is not a mere negative
principle implying non-killing or non-injury. It has a
positive implication as well. Positively it means love
towards sentient creatures. It is this positive meaning
that is recognised by Gandhi. Following the Buddhistic
conception, he asserts that ahimsa in its positive form
comprehends the attitudes of love, charity, good will,
friendliness, self-sacrifice and return of good for
evil. He writes. "In its positive form ahimsa means
largest love, greatest charity. If I am a follower of
ahimsa, I must love my enemy. I must apply the same
rules to the wrong deer who is my enemy or a stranger to
me as I would to my wrong doing father and son".20

He defines Ahimsa as avoidance of injury to

anything on earth either in thought, word or deed. As an
ethical principle, it does not merely mean a passive
state of harmlessness. It has a wider meaning and
he interprets it as largest love or active love towards
•
all living cre.atures. The meaning he attaches to ahimsa
is clear from the following statements. "Literally
 154

Ahimsa means non-killing but to me it has a world of

meaning, takes me into realms much higher, infinitely
higher than the realm to which I would go. Ahimsa
really means that you may not offend any body, you may
not harbour any uncharitable thought. For one who
follows the doctrine of Ahimsa there is no room for an
enemy. If we return blow for blow, we depart from the
doctrine of ahimsa, to resent to a friends action or the
so called enemy's action still fall apart from the
doctrine. Harbouring evil thought is a breach of
Ahim s a ,21" .

Ahimsa as love extends not only to human creation

but to subhuman creations as well. His ideal of
Cow-protection is a correlate of this ideal. It only
signifies love and protection of the weakest and lowest
of creations on earth. An extract from a speech at the
Cow-protection conference in Belgam reveals the
significance of this ideal. "The Rishis of old
performed terrible penances and austerities to discover
the right meaning of sacred texts. Our Rishis made the
startling discovery land everyday I feel more and more
 155

convinced of its truth) that sacred texts and inspired

writings yeild their truth only in proportion as one has
advanced in the practise of Ahimsa and Truth. The
greater the realisation of Truth and Ahimsa, the greater
the illumination. The same Rishis declared that
cow-protection was the supreme duty of Hindu and its
performance brought one MOKSHA, ie, salvation. Now I am
not ready to believe that by merly protecting the animal
cow one· can attain MOKSHA. For MOKSHA, one must
completely get rid of one's lower feelings like
attachment, hatred, anger, jealousy. It follows
therefore, that the meaning of cow protection in terms
of MOKSHA must be much wider and far more comprehensive
than is commonly supposed. The cow-protection which can
bring one ~OKSHA must from its very nature include the
protection of everything that lives. Therefore, in my
opinion, every little breach of AHIMSA principle like
causing hurt by harsh speech to anyone man a woman or
child, to cause pain to the weakest and the most
significant creature on earth would be a breach of the
principle of cow-protection, would be tantamount to the
sin of beef eating differing from it in degree, if at
 156

all rather in kind ZZll •

Though Gandhi interprets Ahimsa as Love, he often

uses the negative term non-violence to express its root
meaning. He gives the following reason for this.' Man
is a social animal. As a social animal he has to fulfil
certain duties according to his station in'life. This
necessitates that fellow beings must exist. If'life is
full of violence and bloodshed, social life becomes an
impossibility. This implies that it is not a negative
force that sustains the social life. There is a
positive force embracing all and attracting all towards
the centre. This positive force is Love. Therefore to
show that m&n cannot fulfil his destiny through violence
and bloodshed he uses the term non-violence. He
expresses this idea thUS, "Non-violence is the term I
had to coin inorder to bring out the root meaning of
Ahimsa. Inspite of the negative particle 'non' it is
not negative force. Superficially we are surrounded in
life by strife ind bloodshed, liVing upon life. But
some greater sages who ages ago penetrated the centre of
truth said it is not through life and violence but
 157

through non-violence that man can fulfil his destiny and

his duty to his fellow creatures. It is a force which
is more positive than electricty and more powerful than
even ether. At the centre of non-violence is' a force
acting. Ahimsa means love in the Paulian sense and yet
something more than love defined by St. Paul although I
know St. Paul's beautiful definition is good enough for
practical purposes. Besides, ' love' in the English
language has other connotation and so I was compelled to
use the negative word. But it does not express a
negative force but a force superior to all the forces
put together. One person who can express Ahimsa in life
excercises a force superior to all the forces of
brutality,,23. He affirms, "The force of love is the
same as the force of soul or truth,,24 Therefore Ahimsa
is also termed Soul-force or Truth-Force.

Non-violence is the law of human being as violence

is the law of beast. It distinguishes man from brute
creation. Without it life would not have persisted on
earth. That is why prophets and avatars insist on the
necessity of leading a life of love, non-violence,
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peace and harmony.

In its active form non-violence means absence of

ill-will and. presence of good-will towards all
creations,,26 Gandhi thinks that true love is not love of
one's· friends but it is love of one's enemy. The real
love is to love them that hate you. He states, "To be
non-violent is to love even one's opponent, to do good
to him who has harmed us, to reward vice with virtue and
while doing so to look upon it not as something strange
but as one's natural duty,,25.

To love the enemy does not mean helping the evil

doer, to continue the wrong or tolerating it by passive
acquiesence; It does not even mean unwilling submission
to the will of the evil doer. On the contrary it is
active non-violent resistance to evil action without
hating the evil doer. It may require continuous
suffering and cultivation of patience. But the effect
it brings about is durable. "Non-violence in its
dynarilic condition", says Gandhi, . "means conscious
suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will
 159

of the tyrant but it means putting 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,,26.

Non-violence as the law of self-suffering is not to

be taken as a substitute for inability to use violent
means. it is not cowardice. It is to be noted that
between cowardice and violence a votary of non-
viol ence always prefers violence. "By non-viI ence I do
not mean cowardice. I do believe that when there is only
a choice between, cowardice and violence, I would advise
violence,,27, says Gandhi. A non-violent man resists
the evil d;er by dissociating from him even though it
may cause physical injury. The resistence is offered
out of love towards the evil doer. Gandhi ensures that
this kind of non-violent suffering consciously
undergone silently converts the evil doer. It achieves
a two-fold effect (1) self purification of the non-
violent man and (2) moral reform of the evil doer; To
 160

quote his own words," Suffering injury in one's an

person is the essence of non-violence and is the
chosen substitute for violence to others. It is not
because I value life low that I can countenance with joy
thousands voluntarily loosing lives for Satyagraha but
because I know that it results in the long run in the
least loss of life and what is more, it ennobles those
who lose their lives and morally enriches the world for
their sacrifice,,28

Non-violence as the law of suffering is the outcome

of spiritual consciousness. According to Gandhi, non-
violence is the power of the spirit, the power of God-
head with in us. He realizes that the dignity of man
lies in th~ obedience to the law of the spirit. In this
sense it is 'Soul-Force' or 'Love-Force'.

To Gandhi, Non-violnce is a state of fearlessness.

This state of fearlessness is the outcome of hi~ sole
reliance on God. The violent man is always fearful and
is always concerned with discovering means of combating
the cause of fear. But a non-violent man develops in
him the capacity for self sacrifice. He is ready to.~
 161

sacrifice his wealth and even his life for the sake of
Truth. He is free from the attachment to the physical
body which is the cause of all fears. To quote his
words, "Violence does not mean emancipation from fear
but discovering the means of combating the cause of
fear. Non-violence, on the otherhand, has no cause for
fear. The votary of non-violence has to cultivate the
capacity for sacrifice of the highest type inorder to be
free from fear. He wrecks not if he should lose his
land, his wealth, his life. He who has not overcome all
fear cannot practice Ahimsa to perfection. The votary
of Ahimsa has only one fear that is God. He who seeks
refuge in God ought to have a glimpse of the Atman that
transcends the body and the moment one has a glimpse of
the imperishable ATMAN one sheds the love of the
perishable hody. Training in non-violence is thus
diametricalily opposed to training in violence. Violence
is needed for the protection of things external, non-
violence is needed for the protection of ATMAN , for the
protection of one's honour. The badge of the violent
man is his weapon, spear or or sword or rifle. God is
 162

the shield of the non-violent"29

The practise of non-violen~e by a fearless man

takes the form of return of good for evil. This
precept, 'return of good for evil', Gandhi learnt from a
Gujarathi poem in his boyhood days. Here is the poem
written by Shyamal Bhatt,
"For a bowl of water give a godly meal
For a kindly greeting bow down with zeal
For a simple penny pay thou back with gold,
If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold
Thus the words and actions of the wise regard;
. Every little service ten fold they reward
But the truly noble know all men as one
And return with gladness good for evil done".30
About this poem Gandhi says, "A GUjarathi diadatic
stanza gripped my mind and heart. It's precept - return
good for evil - became my guiding principle. It became
such a,passion with me that I began numerous experiments
in it,,31.

When we consider this, we can note that this

principle is emphasised in Buddhism, Christianity and
 163

Islam. Buddha exhorts this ideal when he tells us to

overcome ill-will with good-will and anger with
forbearence. Jesus Christ teachesl "Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you
and persecute you". 32 Islam too teaches the. same
principle. "Turn away evil with that which is
better,,33. "Paradise is for those who bridle their
anger and those who forgive men for God loveth the
benificient,,34.

It can be seen that Satyagraha, as non-violent

resistance is only a practical expression of this
precept. Satyagraha as the "moral equivalent of war",
aims at moral conversion of the evil doer or enemy.
This moral. weapon Gandhi wielded against the unjust
white rulers in South'Africa. Finding its triumphant
victory there, he used it against the British r~lers in
India. Thus he offered to the world a non-violent
substitute for bloody warfare. We see that through the
principles of Non-violence and Satyagraha Gandhi aims at
the ~stablishment of Truth, Righteousness and Peace.
Here it is relevent to quote the words of Tolstoy, an
 164

advocate of non-violence. He used to have

correspondence with Gandhi. He expresses his

appreciation of Gandhi's non-violent resistance movement

in South Africa. He writes "The longer I live and

especially now when I vividly feel the nearness of

death, I want to tell others what I feel so

particularly, clearly and what to my mind is of great

importance namely that which is called passive

resistance but which in reality is nothing else than the

teaching of love uncorrupted by fa se interpretation.

That ave ...• is the hightest and only law of human life

and in the depths of his soul every hu an being (as we

see most cleary in childernl feels and knows this. He

knows this until he is entangled by the false teachings

of the \l1orld. 35

Ahimsa according to Gandhi is "the farthest Ii 1t

of humilit y ".36 (Italics ours) Pure love can be

expressed only if one reduces hi self to zero, that

is hen a man out of his o~m free will puts hi self

last a ong his fellow creatures This state of ind

cannot be cultivated. It is the very nature of a an of

 165

ahimsa. It can never come to anyone by practice.

Gandhi asserts that Truth and Ahimsa can be cul.tivated .
But "to cultivate humility is tantamount to cultivating
hypocrisy".37 He expl ains," True humil ity means most
strenous and constant endevour entirely directed towards
the service of humanity. God is continually in action
without resting for a single moment. If we would serve
Him or become one with Him, our activity must be
unwearied as His. There may be momentary rest in store
for the drop in the ocean which knows no rest. The same
is the case with ourselves. As soon as we become one
with the occean in the shape of God, there is no more
rest for us, nor indeed do we need rest any longer. Our
very sleep ~s action. For we sleep with the thought of
God in our hearts. This restlessness constitutes true
rest. This never-ceasing agitation holds the key to
peace ineffable. True humility, therefore, requires us
to dedicate overselves to the service of all living
creatures.,,38

Non-violence pre-supposes double faith - faith in

God and faith in man. A votary of ahimsa is fearless
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and truthful. He is self-less and is very ready to

sacrifice his very life for the sake of others. The
courage and strength he derives from the unshakable
faith in God and complete resignation to His will. This
deep faith in God leads to self-purification which is
the essential condition of Ahimsa and Satyagraha. In
f ac t , "self -purification is another name for
sat yagrah,a,,39 , s,ays Gandhi. (Ital ics ours) Self-
purification is purging the heart of all impurities. He
realizes ,"The heart is the source from which the
knowledge of God springs. If the source is
contaminated, every other remedy is useless. And if its
purity is assured nothing else is needed.,,40 And for
this self-purification he considers fasting and prayer
as aids.

The faith in man is the outcome of faith in God.

He states," My trust is solely in God and I trust men
only because I trust God".41 'Hate the wrong but not
the wrong doer' is a maxim with Gandhi. This conviction
is the outcome of his spiritual humanism. Like Swami
Vivekananda he believes in the inherent goodness of man.
 167

All men are expression of God and are, therefore,

essentially divine. He argues that man and his deeds
are two distinct things. The good deed may call forth
approbation and a wicked deed may call forth dis-
approbation. But the doer of the deed good or bad
deserves respect. He argues, "Man and his deeds are two
distinct things. It is quite proper to resist and
attack a system but to resist and attack its author is
.
tantamount to resisting and attacking one's self. For
we are tarred with the same brush and are children of
the same Creator and as such the divine powers within
are infinite. To slight a single human being is to
slight those divine powers and thus to harm not only
that being but with him the whole world,,42. Thus we
find that Gandhi considers man as superior of the system
he propounds. More than that, he believes that the sin
of a man affects the whole for he believes that there is
absolute Oneness of all. He express this idea thus," I
believe in the absolute onness of God and therefore also
of humanity. What though we have different bodies?, we
have but one soul. The rays of the sun are many through
 168

refraction. But they have the same source. I cannot,

therefore, detach myself to the wickedest soul or may I
denied identity with the most virtuous .... If we are
sons of the same God and partake of the same divine
essence, we must partake of the sin of every .person
whether ne belongs to us 'or to any othe·r race". 43

The above analysis of Ahimsa as an ethical

principle. in Gandhi's philosophy shows that it is a
perfect state of mind purified of all the evils and
possesed of noble qualities-love, goodwill,
compassion, benevolence, forbearance self-lessness and
self-sacrifice. Now a question may arise, is it possible
to cultivate perfect non-violence while living in this
imperfect world? Gandhi asserts, "There is no royal
road except through living the creed in your life which
must be a living sermon. Of course, the expression in
one's own life pre-supposes great study, tremendous
perseverence and thorough cleansing of one's self of
all impurities. If for mastering of the physical
sciences you have to devote a whole life-time, how many
life times may be needed for mastering of the greatest
 169

spriritual force that man-kind has known? But why worry

even if it means several life times? For if this is the
only permanent life, if this is the only thing that
counts, then whatever effort you bestow on mastering it
is well spent."Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and
everythi. shall be added unto you. The Kingdom of Heaven
is Ahimsa,,44. He advises that the perfect state of
non-violence is reached only when mind, body and the
speech are in proper co-ordination.

Even if the full-relisation of the principle of

Ahimsa is a practical impossiblity, partial realisation
of it is sufficient to produce the desired result.
Gandhi points out," We can become God - like to the
extent we' realize non-violence but can never become
wholly God".45 He firmly believes that if a man tries
to cultivate non-violence he can bring about a radical
change in society in a silent and an unseen way. For,
as Gandhi states, "Non violence is like radium in its
action. An infinitsmal quantity of it in a malignant
growth acts contihuously, silently and ceaselessly till
it has transformed the whole mass of the diseased tissue
 170

into a healthy one. Similarly even a little of true

non-violence acts in a silent subtle and unseen way,,45
He claims that even if a single individual realizes the
ideal of Ahimsa with fulness he can redeem the whole
society because what is possible for one is possible for
all. Therefore he exhorts, "The basic principle of
rion-violence is that what holds good in respect of
ourself equally applies to the whole universe. All
.
mankind is in essence alike. What is therefore possible
for me is possible for everybody"46.

REFERENCES

1. CWMG, XXV, (1967) p.489.

2. SMET, pp . 420-421-
.
3. Quoted by Chandrasankar Shukla, GVL p.65.
4. SMET pp. 291-292.
5. GVL p.65.
6. CWMG, XLIV, (1971), p.90.
7. CWMG, XLIV, (1971), p.90.

8. Young India, 12-11-1925.

9. SMET p.292
 171

10. "Man as an animal is violent but as spirit is

nonviolent. The moment he awakens to the spirit
within, he- cannot be violent" M.K.Gandhi, Harijan,
11-8-1940.
11. NEP, p.49.
12. Ibid.
13. SSV, p.20S.
14. NEP, . P .1.
15. III. 17.14, PU, p.396.
16. amanitvam adambhitvam
ahimsa ksantir arjavam
- .,
acaryopasanam sau~am
.
sthairyam atmavinigrahah
(Humility (absence of pride), integrity (absence of
deceit) non-violence, patience, uprightness, service
of the teacher, purity (of body and mind)

steadfastness and self-control.) 111.7, BG. p.304.

17. yad~cchaya co' papnnam.
svargadvaram apav~tam

sukhin~ ksatriyah partha

labhante yuddham idrsam
(Happy are the Kshatriya, 0, Partha (Arjuna) for
 172

whom such a war comes of its own accord as an open

door to heaven). II. 32, BG p. 112.
18. Unto Tahti'nen quotes a Jain Sutra which declares
mental ahimsa, "And, if one acts carelessly, moved
by the influence of passions, there Himsa certainily
arises before him whether a living being is killed
or not,
"because under the influence of passions, the person
fir~t injures the self, through the self, whether
there is subsequently an injury caused to another
being or not" NEP, p.33.
19. NEP, p.36.
20. CWNG, L, (1972), p.346.
21. Ibid.
22. Young India 29-1-1925.
23. Harijan 14-3-1930.
24. Satyagraha, (Ahemedbad Navajivan Publishing

House,) p.15.
25. Navajivan, 15-3-1925.
26. Young India, 11-8-1920.
27. CWMG, XXlll, p.197.
 173

28. D.G. Tendulkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Vol.IV, (Bombay

:1955), p.353.
29. Harijan, 1-9-1940.
30. SMET, p.30.
31. Ibid.
32. St. Mathew, 5.44.
33. Quran, 41.34.
34. Ibid., 43.37.
35. An extract from a letter from Leo Tolstoy to Gandhi,
Selected writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Ed Ronald
Duncan (London: Fontana/ Collins) p.62.
36. CWMG, XLIV, (1971), p.205.
37. CWMG, XXXIII, (1969), p.45.
38. Ibid.
39. CWMG, XXXI, (1969), p.225.
40. GT, p.82.
41. Young India. 4-12-1924.
42. SMET p.230.
43. Quoted by Chandrasankar Shukhla GVL, p.5.
44. Harijan, 14-3-1930.
 174

45. D.G. Tendulkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. IV, (Bombay)

p.353.

46. Ibid.