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'''Ahimsa''' ({{lang-sa|[[अहिंसा]]}}; [[IAST]]: {{IAST|ahiṃsā}}, [[Pali|Pāli]]:<ref name="Johansson2012">{{cite book|author=Rune E. A. Johansson|title=Pali Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader and Grammar|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CXBmlQvw7PwC&pg=PT143|accessdate=8 August 2013|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-11106-8|page=143}}</ref> {{IAST|avihiṃsā}}) is a term meaning benignity, non-injury. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root ''hiṃs'' – to strike. ''Hiṃsā'' is injury or harm. ''A-hiṃsā'' is the opposite.<ref>Mayton, D. M., & Burrows, C. A. (2012), ''Psychology of Nonviolence'', The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology, Vol. 1, pages 713-716 and 720-723, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4051-9644-4</ref><ref>[Encyclopedia Britannica], see Ahimsa</ref> | '''Ahimsa''' ({{lang-sa|[[अहिंसा]]}}; [[IAST]]: {{IAST|ahiṃsā}}, [[Pali|Pāli]]:<ref name="Johansson2012">{{cite book|author=Rune E. A. Johansson|title=Pali Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader and Grammar|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CXBmlQvw7PwC&pg=PT143|accessdate=8 August 2013|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-11106-8|page=143}}</ref> {{IAST|avihiṃsā}}) is a term meaning benignity, non-injury. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root ''hiṃs'' – to strike. ''Hiṃsā'' is injury or harm. ''A-hiṃsā'' is the opposite.<ref>Mayton, D. M., & Burrows, C. A. (2012), ''Psychology of Nonviolence'', The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology, Vol. 1, pages 713-716 and 720-723, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4051-9644-4</ref><ref>[Encyclopedia Britannica], see Ahimsa</ref> | ||
Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues<ref name=evpc/> | Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues<ref name=evpc/>, the first of ten principles in the ancient tantric/yogic system of morality, ''Yama-Niyama''. As such, it is also an important tenet of major [[:wikipedia:Indian religions|Indian religions]] ([[:wikipedia:Buddhism|Buddhism]], [[:wikipedia:Hinduism|Hinduism]], and [[:wikipedia:Jainism|Jainism]]). Over the years, Ahimsa has been interpreted in many different ways. In his book, [[A Guide to Human Conduct]], Sarkar analyzes the concept of Ahimsa and some popular interpretations of the term.<ref name=GTHC>{{cite book|ref=harv|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=A Guide to Human Conduct|year=2004|ISBN= 9788172521035}}</ref> | ||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
The word ''Ahimsa'' - sometimes spelled as ''Ahinsa''<ref name="Sanskrit dictionary">[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0125-ahalyA.jpg Sanskrit dictionary reference]</ref><ref>Standing, E. M. (1924). THE SUPER‐VEGETARIANS. New Blackfriars, 5(50), pages 103-108</ref> - is derived from the Sanskrit root ''hiṃs'' – to strike; ''hiṃsā'' is injury or harm, ''a-hiṃsā'' is the opposite of this, | The word ''Ahimsa'' - sometimes spelled as ''Ahinsa''<ref name="Sanskrit dictionary">[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0125-ahalyA.jpg Sanskrit dictionary reference]</ref><ref>Standing, E. M. (1924). THE SUPER‐VEGETARIANS. New Blackfriars, 5(50), pages 103-108</ref> - is derived from the Sanskrit root ''hiṃs'' – to strike; ''hiṃsā'' (or ''hiḿsá'' in Sarkar's [[Roman Sanskrit transliteration|Roman Sanskrit]]) is injury or harm, ''a-hiṃsā'' is the opposite of this, that is benignity or non-jury.<ref name="Sanskrit dictionary"/><ref name="Shukavak N. Dasa">[http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/nonharming_ahimsa.html A Hindu Primer], by [http://www.sanskrit.org/www/shukavak.htm Shukavak N. Dasa]</ref> According to Sarkar, "Ahiḿsá means not inflicting pain or hurt on anybody by thought, word or action."<ref name=GTHC/> | ||
There is a debate on the origins of the word ''Ahimsa'', and how its meaning evolved. Mayrhofer as well as Dumot suggest the root word may be ''han'' which means kill, which leads to the interpretation that ''ahimsa'' means ''do not kill''. Schmidt as well as Bodewitz explain the proper root word is ''hiṃs'' and the Sanskrit verb ''hinasti'', which leads to the interpretation ''ahimsa'' means ''do not injure'', or ''do not hurt''. Wackernagel-Debrunner (and Sarkar) concur with the latter explanation.<ref name=houben>Henk Bodewitz (in Jan E. M. Houben, Karel Rijk van Kooij, Eds.), Violence Denied: Violence, Non-Violence and the Rationalization of Violence in South Asian Cultural History, ISBN 978-9004113442, Brill Academic Pub (June 1999), see Chapter 2</ref><ref name="XXII-XLVII 1986, p. 11-12">Walli pp. XXII-XLVII; Borman, William: ''Gandhi and Non-Violence'', Albany 1986, p. 11-12.</ref> | |||
==Hinduism== | ==Hinduism== |