dhammo mangalam ukkittham ahimsa
samyamo tavo/
deva vi tarn namamssanti
jassa dhamme saya mano//
What is the most superior dharma?
Ahimsā is the most superior dharma.
For those who establish themselves in ahimsa
Even the devas will salute them
Ahimsa is the highest teaching.
Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word that has no corollary in the English language. Most often it is translated as nonviolence or nonharming, but these translations do not express the entirety of ahimsa. Ahimsa is not merely a negation of "himsa" (harming or violence), because negatives in Sanskrit are understood differently than they are in English. Ahimsa does not merely stand for a word describing the absence of violence, rather it performs like Latin words that are verbs formed from another verb expressing a desire to perform the action related to the root verb. That means ahimsa is more appropriately described as "the energy awoken when the desire to harm is absent."
For convenience it is okay to use nonharm, nonviolence or unconditional love for an English translation of ahimsa, but it is important that the more complete definition be understood, to prevent limiting the power and scope of ahimsa.
For convenience it is okay to use nonharm, nonviolence or unconditional love for an English translation of ahimsa, but it is important that the more complete definition be understood, to prevent limiting the power and scope of ahimsa.
Ahimsa Resources
| Ahimsa by Eknath Easwaran |
| Concepts of Active Nonviolence |
| Violence Is... |
