What is ahimsa - abstaining from hurting other living beings

Not to hurt anyone or any living beings.

This is the first item out of all types of common duties laid to all the people.

This is an important item of the yoga to control the mind. Not only physically hurting but even by mentally, not even thinking to hurt others and let them suffer.

Even the speech should not hurt others. No one desires to hurt others as a habit.

While we think that some one made a mistake toward us we wish to hurt them by some instinct.

Our own child may put fire to our house by innocence, will we punish that child, no, we will try to put the fire out and from then onwards we will not allow that child to go near the fire.

Like wise we should treat any one trying to make us suffer as our own child, we must safe guard them from making the same mistake again and again repeating.

We should try to take revenge on him and not to hurt him; this is what is abstaining from hurting.

This practice helps us to the yoga of controlling our mind. Once the mind comes under the control it will become more powerful and will attend to so many unexpected good things which you will be wondering.

When the elephant goes uncontrolled all the people will be suffering. Once it is taken under control it attends to so many good things. Our mind is also like this elephant, mental power is unlimited.

I took a vow to abstain from hurting; my mind came under my control. Thus said so many yogis and many great sages. Because of this abstaining from hurt we lose anger and our mind becomes full of kindness, hence the controlling becomes the easiest.

Most important purpose this abstaining from hurting is to control the sidhdha. A person completely attains this stature through all three: mind, physical and speech even without his intention every ling being come into his vicinity lose all their enmity and become converted to abstain from hurting others because of his aura.

Wherever a person who has abstained from hurting others is there even a criminal will turn into a peaceful mentality. Kindness of the original person provides this power to others too to become a kind ness person. This is actually a god’s effect.

Sanyasin must abstain from hurting to the utmost. He should not pick up a leaf even. Should not cook plants and hurt them. This reason that he was not required to attend to the fire scrifice.if there is a fire even an insect can fall into it and get burnt. Once it fell into the fire no one can save it. As he does not attend to the fire sacrifice, he need not be burnt in the fire after his demise.

His body will be laid into the earth. He vows that no living thing should fear me at all.

This has become the main duty for the Buddhists and Jains without any differentiation that is complete abstain from hurting others.

Complete abstinence of hurting others can be easily lectured to others but practically it is impossible. Mistakes, lapses, hitting and fighting will be there all the time.

Vegetarianism becomes part of this abstinence. This becomes an ideal when it is not forced on others.