Editing Jainism (section)

===Non-violence (''ahimsa'')===
{{anchor|ahiṃsā}}{{Main|Ahimsa in Jainism}}
The principle of ''[[Ahimsa in Jainism|ahimsa]]'' (non-violence or non-injury) is a fundamental tenet of Jainism.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=160}} It holds that one must abandon all violent activity and that without such a commitment to non-violence all religious behavior is worthless.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=160}} In Jain theology, it does not matter how correct or defensible the violence may be, one must not kill or harm any being, and non-violence is the highest religious duty.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=160}}{{sfn|Markham|Lohr|2009|p=71}} Jain texts such as ''[[Ācārāṅga Sūtra]]'' and ''[[Tattvartha Sutra|Tattvarthasūtra]]'' state that one must renounce all killing of living beings, whether tiny or large, movable or immovable.{{sfn|Price|2010|p=90}}{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=160–162}} Its theology teaches that one must neither kill another living being, nor cause another to kill, nor consent to any killing directly or indirectly.{{sfn|Markham|Lohr|2009|p=71}}{{sfn|Price|2010|p=90}}

Furthermore, Jainism emphasizes non-violence against all beings not only in action but also in speech and in thought.{{sfn|Price|2010|p=90}}{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=160–162}} It states that instead of hate or violence against anyone, "all living creatures must help each other".{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=160–162}}{{efn|This view, however, is not shared by all Jain sub-traditions. For example, the Terapanthi Jain tradition, with about 250,000 followers, considers both good karma such as compassionate charity, and bad karma such as sin, as binding one's soul to worldly morality. It states that any karma leads to a negation of the "absolute non-violence" principle, given man's limited perspective. It recommends that the monk or nun seeking salvation must avoid hurting or helping any being in any form.{{sfn|Flügel|2002|pp=1266–1267}}}}

Jains believe that violence negatively affects and destroys one's soul, particularly when the violence is done with intent, hate or carelessness, or when one indirectly causes or consents to the killing of a human or non-human living being.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=160–162}}

The doctrine exists in Hinduism and Buddhism, but is most highly developed in Jainism.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=160}}{{sfn|Sundararajan|Mukherji|1997|pp=392–417}}{{sfn|Izawa|2008|pp=78–81}}{{sfn|Sethia|2004|p=2}}{{sfn|Winternitz|1993|p=409}} The theological basis of non-violence as the highest religious duty has been interpreted by some Jain scholars not to "be driven by merit from giving or compassion to other creatures, nor a duty to rescue all creatures", but resulting from "continual self-discipline", a cleansing of the soul that leads to one's own spiritual development which ultimately affects one's salvation and release from rebirths.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=88–89, 257–258}} Jains believe that causing injury to any being in any form creates bad [[Karma in Jainism|karma]] which affects one's rebirth, future well-being and causes suffering.{{sfn|Taylor|2008|pp=892–894}}{{sfn|Granoff|1992}}

Late medieval Jain scholars re-examined the ''Ahiṃsā'' doctrine when faced with external threat or violence. For example, they justified violence by monks to protect nuns.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=162–163}}{{sfn|Lorenzen|1978|pp=61–75}} According to [[Paul Dundas|Dundas]], the Jain scholar [[Jinadattasuri]] wrote during a time of destruction of temples and persecution that "anybody engaged in a religious activity who was forced to fight and kill somebody would not lose any spiritual merit but instead attain deliverance".{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=163}}

However, examples in Jain texts that condone fighting and killing under certain circumstances are relatively rare.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=162–163}}{{efn|Jain literature, like Buddhist and Hindu literature, has also debated the aspects of violence and non-violence in food creation.{{sfn|Olson|2014|pp=1–7}}}}