WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN

Post No. 12,063

Date uploaded in London – –  30 May , 2023                  

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(The killing of an ailing calf in the Ashram caused  a great commotion in certain circles in Ahmedabad and some angry letters having been addressed to Gandhiji on the subject, he critically examined the question in the light of the principle of non violence ( ahimsa) in an article in the Navajivan, the substance of which is given below)

A poet has sung

“The pathway of love is the ordeal of fire,

The shrinkers turn away from it”

The pathway of ahimsa, that is of love, one has to tread all alone.

But the question may very legitimately be put to me: Would I apply to human beings the principle I have enunciated in connection with the calf? Would I like it to be applied in my own case? My reply is Yes; the same law holds good in both the cases. The law of

Yathaa Pinde, thathaa Brahmaande (as with one, so with all) admits of no exceptions, or the killing of the cow was wrong and violent. In practice however we do not cut short the sufferings of our ailing dear ones by death because aa a rule we have aways means at our disposal to help them and because they have the capacity to think and decide for themselves. But suppose in the case of an ailing friend I am unable to render any aid whatever and recovery is out of the question and the patient is lying in an unconscious state in the throes of fearful agony then I would not see any himsa  (violence) in putting an end to his suffering by death.

Doctor’s Knife and Murderer’s Knife

Just as a surgeon does not commit himsa but practises the purest ahimsa when he wields his knife on his patient’s body for the latter’s benefit, similarly one may find it necessary under certain imperative circumstances to go a step further and sever life from the body in the interest of the sufferer. It may be objected that whereas the surgeon performs his operation to save the life of the patient, in other case we do just the reverse. But on a deeper analysis it will be found that the ultimate object sought to be served in both the cases is the same, viz. to relieve the suffering soul within from pain. In the one case you do it by severing the diseased portion from the body, in the other you do it by severing from the soul the body that has become an instrument of torture to it. In either case it is the relief of the soul within from pain that is aimed at, the body without the life within being incapable of feeling either pleasure or pain. Other circumstances can be imagined in which not to kill would spell himsa,  while killing would be ahimsa. Suppose for instance that I find my daughter – whose wish at the moment I have no means of ascertaining – is threatened with violation and there is no way by which I can save her, then it would be the purest form of ahimsa on my part to put an end to her life and surrender myself to the fury of the incensed ruffian.

But the trouble with our votaries of ahimsa is that they have made of ahimsa a blind fetish and put the greatest obstacle in the way of the spread of true ahimsa in our midst.

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To conclude then, to cause pain or wish ill to or to take the life of any living being out of anger or a selfish intent is himsa. On the other hand, after a calm and a clear judgement to kill or cause pain to a living being with a view to its spiritual or physical benefit from a pure, selfless intent may be the purest form of ahimsa. Each such case must be judged individually, on its own merits. The final test as to its violence or non violence is after all the intent underlying the act.

–subham—

Tags- surgeon’s knife, killing patient, Gandhiji , himsa , ahimsa