with such persons. If we return blow for blow, we depart from the doctrine of ahimsa. But when I say that we should not resent, I do not say that we should acquiesce; but by ‘resenting’ I mean wishing that some harm should be done to the enemy; or that he should be put out of the way, not even by any action of ours, but by the action of somebody else, or, say, by divine agency. If we harbour even this thought, we depart from this doctrine of ahimsa. Those who join the Ashram have to literally accept that meaning.
That does not mean that we practise that doctrine in its entirety, far from it. It is an ideal which we have to reach, and it is an ideal to be reached even at this very moment, if we are capable of doing so. But is not a proposition in geometry; it is not even like solving difficult problems in higher mathematics— it is infinitely more difficult than solving those problems. Many of you have burnt the midnight oil in solving those problems. If you want to follow out this doctrine, you will have to do much more than burn the midnight oil. You will have to pass many a sleepless night, and go through
many a mental torture and agony, before you can even be within measurable distance of this goal. It is the goal, and nothing less than that, which you and I have to reach if we want to understand what a religious life means.
A man who believed in the efficacy of this doctrine finds in the ultimate stage, when he is about to reach the goal, the whole world at his feet… if you express your love — ahimsa — in such a manner that it impresses itself indelibly upon your so-called enemy, he must return that love...under this rule there is no room for organised assassinations, or for murders openly committed, or for any violence for the sake of your country or even for guarding the honour of precious ones that may be under your charge. After all, that would be a poor defence of their honour. This doctrine tells us that we may guard the honour of those under our charge by delivering ourselves into the hands of the man who would commit sacrilege. And that requires far greater physical and mental courage than the delivering of blows. If you do not retaliate, but stand your ground between your charge and the
Bhavan's Journal,May 15, 2022∎ 14
