Shri Krishna, while giving advice to crush the wickedness of a person who commits evil, has said – Vinashaya cha roguekritam. That is, crush the wickedness of the evildoer. Only by doing this, non-violence is followed and truth is protected on many occasions. Therefore, humans should use non-violence and act with discretion. Bad behavior of people should be tolerated only up to a limit and if it does not improve, it should be resolved appropriately by behaving appropriately or even harsher.
In Indian tradition, non-violence and truthful speech are considered extremely beneficial for all living beings. Non-violence is the greatest religion, but it is established only in truth. All the work of a great man starts on the basis of truth. It is said in Mahabharata, Vanparva –
Non-violence is the supreme religion and it is established in truth.
That is, non-violence is the greatest religion and is based only on truth. All work is accomplished by keeping faith in the truth.
Veda is the book of true knowledge. Veda itself means knowledge. Truth means powerful. The substance which has existence definitely has its qualities, actions and nature, its exact or accurate knowledge is called truth. God has power and soul and nature also have power. Therefore, these three things are called and considered true. Similarly, the exact knowledge of the qualities, actions and nature of God, soul and nature is called truth. The first main name of God is Sachchidananda Swarup. Sachchidanand is a community of three words, which includes the three qualities of truth, mind and joy. Truth refers to the existence of a substance. God exists and He has power, this is real. That is why God has been called truth.
According to Vedic belief, non-violence is based on truth. Non-violence is the ultimate religion, the ultimate penance and the ultimate truth, because it leads to the development of religion. In the verses of Mahabharata Adi Parva, Paulom Parva 11/12, 11/13, Anushana Parva, Danadharma Parva 116/28, 245/4 etc. it has been said that non-violence is the supreme religion. According to Mahabharata Anushasana Parva, Daanadharma Parva 116/28, non-violence is the ultimate religion, ultimate restraint, ultimate charity, ultimate penance. According to Mahabharata Discipline Parva Dandharma Parva 245/4, non-violence is the ultimate religion and supreme happiness. In Vedic texts, non-violence has been described as supreme. According to Mahabharata Anugita Parva Ashwa Medhik Parva 43/20 and 43/21, non-violence is the best religion and violence is the symptom (form) of unrighteousness.
Ahimsa means non-violence i.e. not doing violence. To give up feelings of hostility towards others. Do not cause any harm to any living being through body, mind, action, word or speech. Not thinking any harm to anyone, not harming anyone even through harsh words etc. and not doing violence to any living being in any situation even through action, this is non-violence. We commit violence towards others only due to enmity towards others or due to some personal interest, whereas no one wants that other people and creatures should commit violence towards them. The person towards whom violence is done suffers pain and suffering due to violence.
That is why if we want that no one should behave violently towards us, then we will also have to give up violence towards others. Violence can be eliminated only by developing a feeling of love and affection in one’s mind and heart towards others. This will create peace in the mind and heart, due to which not only our mind and brain but also our body will become healthy and long lived. Therefore, every person should be ready to practice non-violence towards other living beings, who do not like violence towards them by others. Violence has been condemned in Mahabharata Mokshadharma Parva Shantiparva 256/3-
Disorganized measure.
Sanshayatmabhiravyaktairhinsa samanauvarnaita.
That is, those who have been corrupted by the dignity of religion, are fools, are atheists and who have doubts about the soul and who are not famous anywhere, such people have supported violence.
In the Vedic scriptures, a true understanding of God, soul and nature along with man’s duties and the purpose and goal of human life has been given. Causing pain to others is called unrighteousness. Be it a human being or an animal or bird, hurting anyone is unrighteous and a great sin. Causing pain to others is called violence towards them. Therefore everyone should have non-violent nature and feelings. Only when this happens, the traits of humanity are truly visible in the person. Vedas inspire and command man to become a human being – Manurbhav.
In this one word, through the Vedas, God has inspired man to become a human being, that is, to acquire the knowledge of truth by being contemplative and to practice it. Have been ordered to behave in the most appropriate manner. Yathayogya means tit for tat. By not following this principle, we cannot reform the people who behave untruthfully and violently. Our failure to protest will encourage his tendency to violence. The blame for this will be on us only.
There are four ways to improve a human being – Sama, Daam, Dand and Bheda. A person who is a gentleman can be explained with love. If it does not improve then some repression has to be done. Even then, if he does not improve and behaves violently, then he can be reformed only by giving punishment or punishment with less violence. Non-violence never means that someone should behave violently towards us and we should tolerate it silently. If we do this then the nature of the violent man will become more violent and he will hurt other gentle people as well. Vedas inspire only appropriate behavior towards violent humans or animals.
That is why in Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna, while giving advice to crush the wickedness of a person who commits evil, has said – Vinashaya Cha Rothakkritam. That is, crush the wickedness of the evildoer. Only by doing this, non-violence is followed and truth is protected on many occasions. Therefore, humans should use non-violence and act with discretion. Bad behavior of people should be tolerated only to a certain extent and if it does not improve, it should be resolved appropriately by behaving appropriately or even more harshly.
In the Ashtanga Yoga of Yogadarshan, the first part of Yoga is Yama. There are five Yamas – non-violence, truth, non-existence, celibacy and non-religion. Since ancient times, sages, sages and yogis have been following the five Yamas including non-violence and truth. This Yama is not for any one sect but it is universal i.e. it is worthy of being followed and practiced by all the people of the world. Everyone should know this and consume and behave according to its basic spirit. This makes human life beautiful.
Thus, it is clear that in Vedic belief, non-violence has been called the ultimate religion. But command has also been given to crush the wickedness of the wicked. That is why Vedic religious people like Shri Ram, Shri Krishna etc. did not delay in crushing the evil of Ravana, Kansa etc. as soon as they got the opportunity. But after Mahabharata, due to people being away from the knowledge of Vedas, this meaning of non-violence could not remain in the minds of people. Other cultures emerged, and due to coming in contact with other cultures, the practice of animal violence in the name of Yagya, sacrifice in the name of worship of God, and later in the name of worship of gods, contrary to the order of using violence instead of merely suppressing evil, increased. Put. People dependent on Vedic religion tried to oppose and understand this through arguments, debates etc., but that effort could not succeed.
Lord Buddha, the originator of Buddhism, also preached non-violence in his sermons. The effect of Lord Buddha’s teachings was that the animal violence that took place during yagyas at that time came to an end. But along with the true form of non-violence, the Vedic promise of commanding the wicked to crush their wickedness became secondary and ended. Over time, due to the inability to properly understand the meaning of non-violence, the result was that India was attacked many times and it became a slave. However, non-violence has been prevalent in India since ancient times.
Even at present, International Day of Non-Violence is celebrated on 2 October, the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, an Indian who played an important role non-violently in the Indian independence movement. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on 15 June 2007 to the world to implement the idea of peace and non-violence and celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as International Non-Violence Day.