Ahimsa

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In Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, ahimsa (Sanskrit for 'noninjury') is the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living beings.[1]

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. In this way, historical Indian literature has contributed to modern theories of just war and self-defence.[4]


Notes

  1. Encyclopedia Britannica [https://www.britannica.com/topic/ahimsa article on ahimsa, last access 12/4/2020
  2. 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.
  3. Struckmeyer, F.R. (1971). "The 'Just War' and the Right of Self-defense". Ethics 82: 48–55. DOI:10.1086/291828. Research Blogging.
  4. (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.