AHIM: SĀ 197

Friedenson, Joseph. “A Concise History of Agudath Israel.” In nouncer’s way of life became the ideal behavior. Magico-
Yaakov Rosenheim Memorial Anthology, pp. 1–64. New York, ritualistic attitudes subsided in favor of ethical and mystical
1968. values: Thus the Upanis: adic sages point to the identity of
Mendelsohn, Ezra. “The Politics of Agudas Yisroel in Inter-War ātman and brahman and praise the one who “sees the Self
Poland.” Soviet Jewish Affairs 2 (1972): 47–60. in (his) self, sees the Self in everything. . . .” In this way,
Mittleman, Alan. The Politics of Torah: The Jewish Political Tradi- the traditional, magical fear of retaliation was replaced by a
tion and the Founding of Agudat Israel. Albany, 1996. sense of fellow feeling towards all that lives; ahim: sā, endowed
Schiff, Gary S. Tradition and Politics: The Religious Parties of Israel. with an indubitably positive value, was expanded into such
Detroit, 1977. concepts as “compassion” (dayā), a virtue that is required
Vital, David. A People Apart: A Politcal History of the Jews in Eu- particularly of those who strive after liberation, regardless of
rope 1789–1939, pp. 616–640, 785–789. New York, 2001. the community to which they belong.
GERSHON C. BACON (1987 AND 2005) The first major vow taken by Brahmanic ascetics and
by Buddhist and Jain religious mendicants alike is that life
should not be destroyed, whether in mind, in words, or in
deeds. The Jains especially emphasize the unique importance
AHIM: SĀ. The Sanskrit term ahim: sā (literally “non- of this pledge (which their lay believers also take), and em-
injury”), often translated as “nonviolence,” has been taken phasize that all forms of violence, including the passions, de-
into Western languages as a result of the influence of Mohan- stroy the soul’s ability to attain ultimate perfection; in addi-
das Gandhi. Gandhi explicitly associated ahim: sā with chasti- tion, that violence turns against the very person who does not
ty and the absence of possessions as well as with the convic- refrain from it.
tion that one should identify with all beings; he considered
ahim: sā to be based on self-control, necessitating preliminary The observance of ahim: sā naturally implies many re-
(self-)purification. He also stressed that ahim: sā is a condition strictions as far as the mendicant’s diet is concerned. The
of truth, which in turn can be equated with God. Hence only acceptable food is that which can be prepared without
Gandhi’s invitation, in the last sentence of his autobiogra- taking another life; meat-eating is thus shunned. In a more
phy: “In bidding farewell to the reader . . . I ask him to join extreme view, plants that are cultivated and then cut and de-
me in praying to the God of Truth that He may grant me stroyed to become food are also forbidden. The ideal diet,
the boon of ahim: sā in mind, word and deed” (Gandhi, then, consists of fruits, which fall naturally from the trees.
1929). Because various penances and ascetic practices have always
been based on fasting or on living only on fruits or seeds,
Considering the traditional Hindu equation of reality ahim: sā came to be closely associated with vegetarianism, of
with truth (satya), it is not surprising that Gandhi used which the Jains soon became and remain uncompromising
ahim: sā not only as a moral weapon but as a political one as advocates.
well; in so doing he refused to separate politics and religion.
He thus resorted to, and, to a certain extent, reinterpreted The concept of noninjury, coupled with self-control or
an ancient Indian concept. self-restraint, was rich in many potential developments. It
soon became the central ethical idea in most of the philoso-
Similar ideas were current nearly two thousand years
phies and religions of India. Indeed, in some communities
ago in some of the oldest Upanis: ads, developing among
ahim: sā was given paramount importance, and in this respect
Brahmanic sam: nyāsins (ascetics, mendicants) as well as
Gandhi does not deny the great influence that the revered
among the heterodox Buddhist and Jain communities. Such
Jain layperson Raychandbhai Mehta exerted on him. The
views, it has been convincingly argued, were the outcome of
emphasis that Gandhi laid on ahim: sā, however, would have
a kind of ideological revolution that took place in India
remained of no avail had it not been firmly rooted in an im-
around 500 BCE. At that time, the more contemplative val-
memorial Indian tradition.
ues of the “metaritualist” philosophers superseded earlier
magico-ritualistic concepts of religion. SEE ALSO Gandhi, Mohandas; Nonviolence; Sam: nyāsa.
It can be deduced from the more ancient texts that the
Vedic Indians believed in an inverted “world beyond,” where BIBLIOGRAPHY
one must suffer the very fate previously inflicted by him on The question of ahim: sā is often addressed in Indian literature as
other beings. Whereas, in order to escape the consequences well as by scholars. Useful references will be found in Giusep-
of one’s (cruel) deeds the Vedic brahmans succeeded in in- pe Spera’s Notes on Ahim: sā (Turin, 1982). In Bansidhar
venting elaborate rituals, they still deemed it important, in Bhatt’s Ahimsa in the Early Religious Traditions of India
order to avoid retaliation, to abstain from injuring other be- (Rome, 1994, Centre for Indian and Inter-religious Studies),
ings—thus, to practice ahim: sā. the appendix lI (a) lists the “Published Materials on the
Ahimsā” [sic]: 152–176. Hanns-Peter Schmidt has done a
With the development of the doctrine of transmigration fundamental study on the origin of ahim: sā in Mélanges
and retribution of actions (karman), liberation from rebirth d’indianisme à la mémoire de Louis Renou (Paris, 1968). Also
became the ultimate goal of the religious life, and the re- see, by the same author, “Ahim: sā and Rebirth,” in Inside the

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION