Ahiṃsā

Ahiṃsā · a-hiṃsā, “non-harming”

Grammar: feminine noun; a (not) with hiṃsā (harm, injury, from the root hiṃs, to strike or hurt): “the absence of harm”.

Meaning: non-harming, non-injury; giving up harm to any living being by mind, speech and body. It is the first of the five yamas (the restraints of yoga) and the natural dharma of those who have renounced everything for Śrī Hari.

In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa names ahiṃsā again and again among the disciplines of the sādhaka, and calls it the highest dharma.

Sūta tells the ṛshis of Naimisha that the discerning who have bhakti for Parameśvara quickly give up their strong attachment to the body, take up the paramahaṃsa-āśrama, which is sannyāsa, the last and best of the āśramas, and become those whose natural dharma is ahiṃsā and the renunciation of all karma (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 18).

Bhagavān Kapila, teaching his mother Devahūti the sabīja yoga, the yoga with a support, names among its practices not harming beings, not speaking untruth and not stealing another’s wealth (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 28). Teaching her bhakti-yoga, he tells her that the bhakta must keep the yamas: ahiṃsā, satya (truthfulness), asteya (not coveting another’s wealth), brahmacarya and aparigraha (not running after bhogas). He must do a karma-yoga in which there is no more hiṃsā than in such things as the daily picking of flowers. And the one who does bhakti with the intention of hiṃsā to others is the tāmasa bhakta (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 29).

Sanatkumāra, teaching Pṛthu Mahārāja, says that the sādhaka should live keeping ahiṃsā, śama, dama and the other dharmas of the paramahaṃsas, with jīvanmukti as his goal; and he names the five yamas: ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya and aparigraha (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 22). In Nārada‘s account of Purañjana, the royal ṛshi Malayadhvaja kept the yamas, satya, ahiṃsā, asteya, brahmacarya and aparigraha, together with the niyamas, and by them rooted out the vāsanās before he dissolved his mind in Parabrahman (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 28).

Śuka tells Parīkshit that among the disciplines by which sādhakas burn even a great pāpa of mind, speech and body, “as fire burns a thicket of bamboo”, are the yamas: satya, ahiṃsā, freedom from the thought of taking another’s wealth, brahmacarya and not heaping up the means of enjoyment (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 1).

Nārada Maharshi tells Yudhishṭhira that one who knows the nature of dharma should not serve meat in a śrāddha nor eat it himself, for the pitṛ-devatās are greatly pleased even by the wild-rice food of the munis, and no such pleasure comes to them from meat offered by harming animals. Dharma is the very form of Parameśvara, and for those who seek dharma, giving up harm to other beings by mind, speech and body is the highest dharma. When beings see a man who has begun a yajña made with material things, they are afraid and think: “This man is without compassion, does not know dharma, and seeks only his own senses’ satisfaction. He will surely kill me.” So the one who knows the secret of dharma is content even with the havis the munis eat. Nārada adds that victory over hiṃsā is gained by keeping the body and the senses still, and he counts hiṃsā among the sādhaka’s enemies (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 15).

Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that the sādhaka whose supreme goal is Śrī Kṛshṇa himself should practise the yamas, ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya and aparigraha, with reverence; the niyamas he should practise only now and then, so far as they do not obstruct ātma-jñāna (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 10).

Related terms: Hiṃsā · Yama · Niyama · Satya · Asteya · Brahmacarya · Aparigraha · Dharma

Sources

• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 18; Skandha 3, Chapters 28–29; Skandha 4, Chapters 22, 28; Skandha 6, Chapter 1; Skandha 7, Chapter 15; Skandha 11, Chapter 10