Concept

Ahimsa

Ahimsa (अहिंसा, IAST: , nonviolence) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues of Jainism, where it is the first of the Pancha Mahavrata. It is also one of the central precepts of Hinduism and is the first of the five precepts of Buddhism. Ahimsa is inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. Ahimsa is also related to the notion that all acts of violence have karmic consequences. While ancient scholars of Brahmanism had already investigated and refined the principles of ahimsa, the concept reached an extraordinary development in the ethical philosophy of Jainism. Parsvanatha, the twenty-third tirthankara of Jainism, revived and preached the concept of non-violence in . Mahavira, the twenty-fourth and the last tirthankara, further strengthened the idea in . About , Valluvar emphasized ahimsa and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual, which formed the core of his teachings. Perhaps the most popular advocate of the principle of ahimsa in modern times was Mahatma Gandhi. Ahimsa's precept that humans should 'cause no injury' to another living being includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts. Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as modern scholars, disagree about what the principle of Ahimsa dictates when one is faced with war and other situations that require self-defence. In this way, historical Indian literature has contributed to modern theories of just war and self-defence. The word Ahimsa—sometimes spelled Ahinsa—is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs, meaning to strike; hiṃsā is injury or harm, while a-hiṃsā (prefixed with the alpha privative), its opposite, is non-harming or nonviolence. Reverence for ahimsa can be found in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist canonical texts.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related concepts (23)
Hinduism
Hinduism (ˈhɪnduɪzəm) is an Indian religion or dharma, a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. Hinduism has been called the world's oldest religion still practised, though some debate remains. The word Hindu is an exonym although many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (सनातन धर्म) which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts—but its usage is modern.
Jainism
Jainism (ˈdʒeɪnɪzəm ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankars (supreme preachers of Dharma), with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva, whom the tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha, whom historians date to the 9th century BCE, and the twenty-fourth tirthankara Mahavira, around 600 BCE.
Buddhism
Buddhism (ˈbʊdɪzəm , USalsoˈbuːd- ), also known as Buddha Dharma, and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in the eastern Gangetic plain as a śramaṇa–movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population.
Show more

Graph Chatbot

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.