Ahimsa in the Face of a Violent Situation

By Sadhvipramukha Kanakprabha

Man is a being endowed with higher consciousness. He has the capacity for understanding human values and remains vigilant towards them. Distrust in human values is a problem in itself. It may be difficult, though not impossible, to lend human values a certain air of dignity in an age dominated by immorality. Tumult cannot overawe a man who lives in the midst of tumult but renders its words meaningless. The significance of a person's thinking and action lies in his ability to counter the impact of immorality even when he lives among corrupt and immoral people. A man who remains unaffected by the moments that shatter and diffuse his consciousness can enhance the grace of his personality. He who has an animated personality is never shattered but the circumstances that might cause his disintegration get shattered by themselves. The circumstances that tend to play with human consciousness manifest themselves in casteism, communalism, untouchability, price rise, poverty, beggary, luxurary, affluence, indiscipline, craving for power, ambition, atrocities and lack of character.

A man who is committed to ahimsa attains to the state of fearlessness. He realizes the value of ahimsa and is even ready to sacrifice his life. He remains calm and unruffled even in the midst of provocative situations. Ahimsa always triumphs in such situations as is evidenced by Lord Mahavira's life. Whether it was the bite of a venomous cobra or a devastating assault by an arrogant god or goddess, he stood undaunted and faced the situation boldly. The ultimate result was that the forces of violence were defeated. Even in the twentieth century we have the peerless example of Mahatma Gandhi who used the weapon of ahimsa even in the face of a situation that threatened his life and he emerged victorious. There was a change of heart even in the most wicked and violent people. Those who value the importance of ahimsa never surrender themselves before the forces of disruption and hatred but challenge them and, if needed, lay down their lives for a bigger cause. When a person aflame with anger and hatred rushes towards a lover of ahimsa with the object of killing him, he suddenly finds him helpless and bows before an ahimsa practitioner.

These problems might have dominated a particular age but they have invaded the present age "with a vengeance in its totality. When the invasion is total the solution of the problem has also to be total. When violent circumstances become predominant, the value of ahimsa increases by itself. -It is imperative to do away with inhuman outlook for the upward movement of human consciousness by arresting moral degradation taking place in any age.

Transformation of social values and the incredibility of measures and standards, hoarding, exploitation, cruelty etc. are responsible for the malady that grips humanity. In order to overcome this malady, ahimsa (nonviolence) and aparigrah (non-possession) shall have to be given a prominent place. We will have to give shape to the vision of a healthy society under the backdrop of renunciation.

A man may take up any act but before that he must look back, he must assess his capacity. Only then the outcome of that act can turn out to be good and desirable.

After the act has begun, the distrust in it is fatal to its basic root. A man swinging between trust and distrust tends to suffer from human frustrations. He bears with social inhibitions in utter helplessness and feels himself feeble and wretched.

There is a general feeling today that our country is in the grip of perversion. I do not subscribe to the view that everything is good in other countries. But, the perverse view that there are distortions everywhere is also perversity in itself. A legend has it theat once there was an epidemic in Baghdad. People told the Sheikh that the rats were the cause of that epidemic. His mind got infested with suspicion. Wherever he found the rats, he ordered that they must be killed. Once he suspected that there were rats in his house, he ordered that the house must be put to fire. There was a great chaos in the household. At that very time a jester arrived. He said. "There are more rats on your head than the rats in all the rat-holes of Baghdad." The Sheikh was very uneasy and started shaking his head as if trying to shake the rats off his head. He felt that there were numerous rats moving on his head. He was not as much tormented by the real rats as he was by the imaginary rats in his mind.

There is no gainsaying the fact that a malady of perversity does exist but man is being broken more by an imagined fear than by reality. Now it is expected that the state of disbelief will be removed and we will experience reality. We should remain vigilant about moral and spiritual values and rejuvenate them. Only on the basis of moral values can a man experience a state of sublimity and attain effulgence.

Human wisdom is timeless, universal and ubiquitous. The wider this light of wisdom, the better it is for human society. For this, it is necessary for us to remain committed to the implementation of immediate and long-term schemes and projects that might be formulated for the purpose. Anuvrat can serve as a bridge for this task. In Anuvrat code of conduct is contained the solution of the problems faced by the present age. Anuvrat is relevant today more than ever because people of all sections in society are afflicted with horror. No horror or crisis can last long if efforts to nullify it go on relentlessly.

After completing its fifty-year long journey the Anuvrat Movement is on its onward march. Our efforts during these fifty years, explicitly and implicitly, have succeeded in taking the light of anuvrat to each and every individual in society. It depends on the ability and capacity of an individual how he or she looks at and makes use of the rays of light. These rays of light still do not have that much of capacity or strength so as to influence an individual even without his capacity for imbibing. It is also not good because this can lead to inaction in human society. In the present changing circumstances an eternal value can be established if man takes to action, faces violent situations calmly and gives permanent place to ahimsa (nonviolence) and aparigrah (non-possession). That perennial value can provide the required relief to mankind suffering and groaning under the weight of evil forces. Ahimsa is more than nonviolence. It is an inner awakening which brings with it joy that cannot be expressed in words. It gives rise to fearlessness in the heart of a person who is imbued with it. His face is lit up with its radiations that shoot up in distant corners and radiate the environment around us. He alone knows its significance who is able to imbibe it in thought, word and deed.

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Author :
 Sadhvipramukha Kanakprabha , is the Head of the sadhvis of the Terapanth Jain Religious Order. She has written several books and has been a part of the editorial team responsible for editing the Jain Scriptures under the guidance of Acharya Tulsi and Acharya Mahapragya.

Article Source :
Anuvibha Reporter ( Special Issue : Dec. 2000 )
Ahimsa, Peacemaking, Conflict Prevention and Management Proceedings and Presentations
Fourth International Conference on Peace and Nonviolent Action ( IV ICPNA )
New Delhi : Nov. 10-14, 1999
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Mail to : Ahimsa Foundation
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