Non-violence has been one of the most cherished principles of humanity. The very word ‘humane’ is synonymous with non-violence implying benevolence, being kind or having a disposition to treat other human beings or animals with kindness. Thus being humane is the same as being non-violent. Ahimsa (non-violence) has been one of the core values of the East, which is incorporated in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.  It has also been the core value of the West since Jesus Christ advised humanity to shun the policy of eye for eye” and follow the new principle of non-violence. He proclaimed:

You have heard that it was said: Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you ‘Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (Matthew 5:38-40)

Yet Christianity could never get rid of violence. Most of the people killed in the twentieth century in the two World Wars had been Christians who had been killed by their own brethren. Every single society and nation uses violence to punish criminals and awards even death sentences to some criminals. Every country maintains an army which is trained to kill people and protect its people from enemy forces. 

Many religions have justified the use of violence at least under certain circumstances. Koran exhorts Muslims to kill the unbelievers in the following words:

Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. – (Koran 2:191)

Even in Hinduism, which otherwise lays high value on non-violence and most Hindus do not kill even an animal, violence is not prohibited. In fact, Bhagwat Gita, which is the holiest scriptures of Hinduism, preaches war against the enemies as a sacred duty. Lord Krishna clearly says to Arjuna:

Considering your specific duty as a warrior, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.  O Partha, happy are the warriors to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly realms (Gita 2:31-32)

War and violence have been unavoidable in the fate of humanity despite all efforts. Yet men have always striven to create a society which is based on love and non-violence. Man, by his nature, could not defend the killing of man, though he always wishes to follow a peaceful life. It is, therefore, required to understand why non-violence is incompatible with humanity and yet humanity is always driven towards non-violence.

The Principles of Non-violence

Non-violence is a much wider term than it is ordinarily understood. It includes avoidance of not only physical hurt to an individual but also violence of any sort whether in thought, action or words. The murder of another human being is the final act of violence which is often preceded by milder forms of violence. Therefore, one has to avoid all forms of violence as Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raca, (a contemptuous word) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, You fool! will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Mathew 5: 21-22)

Thus in a perfect non-violent society, no one should even hurt the feeling of another person. In case of any difference of opinion, the only resort available to man is to convince the other person. If the other person does not agree, he has no option but to agree with him.

A non-violent society can be formed only when the world has justice, fraternity and equality where every person shall have equal wealth, equal opportunity and equal position in the society. However, this seems to be impossible in the modern society which is created on the basis of opposite principles. The son and daughter of a rich person inherit billions from their parents while the poor person’s offspring inherit only poverty and hunger. The equal distribution of resources essentially means making the rich people poorer by many times and distributing their wealth to the poor. Since the rich people would never like to give away their wealth voluntarily, violence would be necessary. Hence, there is no possibility of making an equal and just society by purely non-violent means.

Another important aspect that needs to be considered is whether humanity can grow at all if the rewards for excellence or performance are withdrawn. Why should someone like to work, if every person is going to get the same wealth, position and respect from the society? All the development of mankind has been made because the human society had given extraordinary rewards to the people who have made great contributions in the progress of humanity. There could be no inventions and hard work in a society that fails to reward the extraordinary.

Practicing Non-violence

Non-violence is a great idea till it is actually practised. Even though there is no society which can claim to be non-violent in absolute sense, yet some countries score high in the non-violent index than others.

India is certainty one of the most non-violent countries. It is evident from the fact that it still calls Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence in the modern times, as the Father of the Nation and even now more than half of Indians are vegetarians who do not eat even meat. There is greater deal of equality in most of the jobs where age and seniority decide the position of the person rather than merit or performance, lest it should promote unhealthy competition. The result is that most senior politicians are either quite old or the offspring of famous politicians. All top positions in bureaucracy and industry go to the senior most persons.

On the contrary, the USA can be considered to be one of the most violent countries as it is engaged in more number of wars than any other country. There is also the greatest inequality in the USA which has the maximum number of rich people in the world. Most of the positions are decided on merit and not on age, and the present President of the USA is a man in his forties, who has made it to the top position on the basis of his merit alone.

Yet one can see that India continues to be a poor country whose per capita income is less than 2% compared to that of the USA. Even though the population of India is more than a billion, it has not been able to produce a single Nobel laureate from its soil in the field of literature or science since sixty-two years of its independence. There has been only one Olympics Gold Medalist in an individual event in sixty-two years of independent India while the USA wins these medals in hundreds.

Thus a country has to leave all its wealth and power if it wishes to follow the path of non-violence which is actually spirituality in action. Jesus had, therefore, warned humanity in the following words:

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24)

Man’s Romance with Non-violence

It is evident that humanity cannot become non-violent unless it eliminates all disparities in the world which is simply impossible since the very foundation of human beings is based on inequality. Still man could not avoid his attraction towards non-violence as his very nature is spiritual.

In some ways, the attraction of man towards non-violence can be compared with the attraction of a man towards a woman who is so different from him. She is powerless, soft and feminine. Yet no man wants to become like a woman as he likes to retain the power and position that come with being a man and his attraction towards a female is due to the attraction of the opposite. Therefore, the human civilization is quite unlikely to become absolutely non-violent even though it would always seek peace, love and non-violence.

Humanity and non-violence, though not opposite, are complementary to each other that are always attracted towards each other. Whenever, man becomes more materialistic, he loses peace and love as he has to win competitions and fight wars to achieve material gains. However, war creates hatred and destroys his peace. His attraction towards love and non-violence become much stronger after the war. He keeps on moving from violence to non-violence like a pendulum. Yet when man becomes non-violent he starts losing wealth and power, which again drives him to resort to violence to regain wealth and power in the world. The game continues forever.

Non-violence as an ideal

Non-violence will, however, remain an ideal for mankind. Striving for an ideal is deeply embedded in human nature. Man can never rest satisfied with what he has achieved and will always strive for what seems to be unachievable, an El Dorado. So let mankind strive for an absolutely non-violent world where all beings including human beings enjoy perennial peace and happiness.

(The author, a govt. servant with the Govt. of India, comes from an engineering background and has recently been awarded a Ph.D. in e-governance. He has published about one hundred fifty articles on the ‘scienceofsoul.com’ website and has been a regular contributor to ‘Science of Soul’)