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Ahimsa ParamoDharmaha

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sudarshan madabushi • March 6, 1999 


Dear member,

You wrote:

"We as Vaishnavas try not to hurt any living being.Ahimsa is given lot 
of importance in our Philosophy..." etc. etc.

True. 

The vedic faith places a lot of stress on "ahimsA". It is a most 
desirable trait to be cultivated by any spiritual aspirant.

But the vedic religion does not elevate "ahimsa" onto the pedestal of a 
MORAL ABSOLUTE ... in other words, "ahimsa" is a very desirable but not 
the sole or essential pre-requisite for spiritual upliftment.

It is only the Buddhist religion which made so much out of the concept 
of "ahimsa" and historically, it is under its influence that the 
absolute-ness of "ahimsa" as a moral value became so prevalent in modern 
"Hinduism".

The vedic religion is unique for its outlook on life ... its fine sense 
of balance and proportion. It rarely, if ever, speaks the language of 
extreme and absoluteness. It recognizes only one absolute: the Supreme 
One, Narayana. Evertyhing else is non-absolute.

adiyEn,
Sudarshan    

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