The 13th chapter of the Bhagawad Geeta talks of what constitutes jnana or knowledge and mentions more than a dozen characteristics of knowledge. Where these characteristics are absent, knowledge (jnana) may be said to be absent. Among these characteristics, ahimsa or non-violence also appears. As with any virtue, it starts seeming impossible to practice when taken to an extreme. Another great virtue which also seems impossible to follow in extremes is pridelessness. When stretched to an extreme, it raises issues like whether even feeding oneself is pride because it amounts to giving your own body some importance! Other couplets in the Geeta explicitly recommend that practitioners should not go for extreme forms of penance and hurt themselves out of misplaced pride, and a number of teachers over the centuries have also recommended the same. Following them, we may also do well to not go to extremes and hurt ourselves in trying to score more points on one dimension. Jnaneshwar (or, Gyaneshwar) in his commentary on the Geeta also reminds us not to hurt ourselves, but also does whatever he can to sensitize us to what ahimsa is. The present author hopes that the great yogi's teachings are not being misinterpreted here, due to limitations of translations or the learning and absorbing capacity of the present author.
Dnyaneshwar - as his name is pronounced in Maharashtra - is said to have been initiated by his elder brother (Nivritti Nath) who in turn is said to have received his initiation from Gahini Nath, one of the nine great teachers in the Nath sect. The present author takes great joy in thinking of the light of the evening oil lamp as a blessing from the nath yogis. As such, he is confident that even if he made an error, the naths would correct it, but wouldn't it be even better if at least the essential meaning could be conveyed properly here - given the limits of knowledge of one who has not ever been in the superconscious state? So help me Jnanadev. What did you want us to take from there?
Gyaneshwar starts his commentary on Ahimsa by stating that ahimsa has been interpreted differently by different authorities, but some interpretations amount to cutting and selling one's own hand and then buying food from the proceeds of the sale! In particular, the translation goes, the purva mimansa of Jaimini seems to preach non-violence through violence! The present author has not read the purva mimamsa and hence cannot comment on which statement Dnyaneshwar is referring to, but Gyaneshwar himself clarifies that the mimamsa recommends more yajnas if the rain gods need to be propitiated, but forgets that these yajnas are cruel to animals and plants. Gyaneshwar moves on to criticize Ayurveda too - elaborately describing how cruel it is to dig up the roots of a plant or to peel the bark of a full grown tree in the name of helping a human! He then chastises worldly-wise men who filter water before drinking but forget that many micro organisms die when water is filtered too!
After these examples, he begs the listeners' forgiveness for the gory details in his commentary, but adds that he also plans to present his own view, and does not intend to stop after merely criticizing others.
Then Gyaneshwar talks of the feet, the hands, the expressions and the state of mind of the non- violent. In a nutshell, the feet of the non-violent are always careful and never forget that a living being - even if only a microbe - may get injured if they perform carelessly. The hands never rise for fear that they may cause a disturbance in the atmosphere which may harm something or someone somewhere. However, they do rise to bless or help, or to serve the needy and then they perform these tasks with dexterity and ease. The non-violent gaze never falls upon anyone for fear that it may hurt something somewhere, but if it does fall upon someone, then it is the most peaceful and benign of looks for the being on which it falls. Similarly for the breath, and of course, these outward signs happen only because the same is the csse with the mind. The person established in ahimsa gives up violence in outward action, speech and in his mind. As the seed grows into a plant, the seed-thought of mental non-violence has the outward effects as mentioned above on all sense organs.
Thus elaborating on non-violence, Jnanadev again apologizes for the lengthy discourse but adds that it was not done just out of passion. Rather, he says, it would have been inappropriate to only give his view without providing a critique of the contrary ones in this matter.
Shades of light and darkness are involved in all karmas. Walk, says Jnaneshwar, and you would be killing some micro organisms. However, he also adds in one place that fearing all this, some people advocate not even feeding their bodies, and in practicing these extreme disciplines, continue to hurt their own bodies, which is also violence of some kind. It seems, therefore, that Jnandev - like many commentators after him - also wants mankind to continue with works which are uplifting or essential. However, they are to be executed or performed with great caution to avoid hurt, wherever possible. That utmost care, taken when performing any action, is Ahimsa, according to the Gyaneshwari.
Sadanand Tutakne
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