I saw a movie recently in which one of the characters kept spouting – ‘Ahimsa paramo dharma’, almost as a form of greeting. It means that Non-violence is the highest Dharma. People love this quote. Very few people know where this quote is from.
This quote is found all over the Mahabharata. But what is quoted is only half the verse.
The second half is Dharma Himsa Tathaiva cha. For the sake of Dharma, himsa, violence should also be considered equally valid as non-violence. Most people omit this part.
If one considers only the first part, then we get into problematic situations. Like what happened to us in 1962 with China. The then leaders of the country were presenting India as a paragon of peace. In fact, Jawaharlal Nehru believed that we did not need an army. The police force was good enough, which is laughable.
When the Chinese army attacked, we hardly had arms to defend ourselves. We were fighting with World War II vintage rifles. It is only the courage and the violent sacrifice of our soldiers that limited the damage done.
Similarly a hundred years before Tibet was taken over by the Chinese, the Chinese army had attacked them. Although the Tibetans were strong enough to throw them out, a hundred years of over-commitment to peace, led them to be an ineffectual country. So, when the Chinese army walked in, they could do nothing much to resist. In fact, the leader had to escape to India. And for the last 70 years, he has been peacefully trying to resolve the situation, to no avail.
One cannot be over committed to the idea of peace. One has to recognize that there is a time for peace and a time for war. The Indian practice of resolving conflicts is Saama (conciliation), Daana (Giving gifts), Bheda (Dissension), Danda (punishment).
The UN Charter also agrees that War is the last act of diplomacy. While ahimsa is a good value to follow in one’s life one also needs to be ready for war. One cannot avoid that.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
