'The principle of ahimsa is Hinduism's greatest gift to the world.' Many people, especially Hindus agree with the statement that the key principle of ahimsa in

The first 200 words of this essay...

(b) Evaluation - 'The principle of ahimsa is Hinduism's greatest gift to the world.'

Many people, especially Hindus agree with the statement that the key principle of ahimsa in Hinduism is the greatest gift that the religion has to offer to the rest of the world.

Ahimsa translates as 'non-violence' or 'non-injury' and is quite an ancient theory as it is described in the Vedas. These four holy books contain a teaching reading "Do not kill any living being". Hindu teaching illustrates that all living things contain Brahman and they all also have an atman. So if a violent action is done by a Hindu on a living creature then he is also harming the atman containing Brahman leading to him gaining bad karma. Ahimsa also plays a key role in Hindu ethics whereby decisions about fighting wars, abortion, contraception and euthanasia are accounted for by the teaching and many Hindus are vegetarian because of their belief in ahimsa. Hindus also use this principle in the protection of cows because of non -violence as well as heir sacredness and economic value. The concept of ahimsa is taken to its extremes in Jainism. Jains choose their occupation on