Ahimsa
In Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, ahimsa (Sanskrit for 'noninjury') is the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living beings.[1]
Although one of the ten commandments of Christianity is 'thou shalt not kill', almost all Christian clergy has interpreted that commandment as applying only to other human beings, but not necessarily to the animals. But ahimsa is a concept that applies to all 'living beings'.
Ahimsa's precept that humans should 'cause no injury' to another living being includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts.[2] Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as modern scholars,[3] disagree about what the principle of Template:Transliteration dictates when one is faced with war and other situations that require self-defence, as reflected in theories of just war and debates about self-defence.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica [https://www.britannica.com/topic/ahimsa article on ahimsa, last access 12/4/2020
- ↑ Kirkwood, W.G. (1989). "Truthfulness as a standard for speech in ancient India". Southern Communication Journal 54: 213–234. DOI:10.1080/10417948909372758. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Struckmeyer, F.R. (1971). "The 'Just War' and the Right of Self-defense". Ethics 82: 48–55. DOI:10.1086/291828. Research Blogging.
- ↑ (2012) "Violence in the Vālmı̄ki Rāmāyaṇa: Just War Criteria in an Ancient Indian Epic". Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80: 659–690. DOI:10.1093/jaarel/lfs036. Research Blogging.