Ahimsa and Asceticism: Jainism’s Ideals
We have observed how, in the ritual of dana (“giving”) and in the ascetic practices of Mahavira, the principle of nonviolence functions as a basic ethical norm in Jainism. This principle, commonly known by its Sanskrit name ahimsa, is prevalent throughout the traditional religions of India.
Hindus and Buddhists, for instance, all tend to favor vegetarianism because of its relative nonviolence. Jainism emphasizes the place of ahimsa, the “pure, unchangeable, eternal law” in this well-known passage from the Acharanga Sutra, the first book of the Angas:All breathing, existing, living, sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure, unchangeable, eternal law which the clever ones, who understand the world, have proclaimed.1
All aspects of life are set in the context of avoiding injury toward “sentient creatures,” an extensive category that includes not only human beings and animals but also plant life. Jain ascetics expand the category nearly to its logical extreme, striving even to avoid harming the atomic particles believed to pervade the natural elements.
The most distinctive characteristic of Jain doctrine, then, is ahimsa, the avoidance of doing injury to any life form. As this striving to avoid violence becomes more intense, an ascetic lifestyle emerges naturally. Denying the body anything beyond what is necessary to sustain life lessens the risk of injuring other forms of life. Restricting one’s diet to vegetables, for example, avoids doing violence to animals. On a more subtle level, straining one’s water before drinking it (as we saw in this chapter’s opening account of the Chandra household) and, indeed, drinking only as much water as is absolutely necessary further decreases violence, in this case to the small organisms that live undetected in drinking water.
Interrelated aspects of ahimsa are helpfully set forth by two other Jain concepts: anekantavada (“nonabsolutism”) and aparigraha (“nonpossessiveness”). As stated in the introductory section of Jain Way of Life, a publication of the Federation of Jain Associations of North America, these three concepts—AAA—set forth the foundations of Jain teachings:
Jains have three core practices: Non-Violence, Non-Absolutism, and Non-Possessiveness (Ahimsa, Anekantvad, and Aparigraha—AAA).
Non-Violence is compassion and forgiveness in thoughts, words, and deeds toward all living beings. For this reason, Jains are vegetarians.
Non-Absolutism is respecting views of others. Jains encourage dialog and harmony with other faiths.
Non-Possessiveness is the balancing of needs and desires, while staying detached from our possessions.-
Another basic doctrine of Jainism is the need to diminish karma through limiting one’s actions. In order to understand karma and Jain beliefs regarding spiritual fulfillment, it is best first to consider Jain cosmology, or its theory of the universe.
In what ways is the teaching of nonviolence relevant for other world religions?