ahimsa

See also: ahiṃsā

English

Alternative forms

• ahinsa

Etymology

From Sanskrit अहिंसा (ahiṃsā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈhɪmsɑː/

Noun

ahimsa (uncountable)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them. [from 19th c.]
   • 2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 79:

     Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were moving towards the ideal of ahimsa ("harmlessness") that would become the indispensable virtue of the Indian Axial Age.

   • 2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 9:

     This, in essence, is the Jain doctrine of ahimsa – a direct inversion of Vedic beliefs about the sustaining powers of animal sacrifice.

Derived terms

• ahimsa silk

Translations

doctrine of non-violence in Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不殺生 / 不杀生 (bùshāshēng)

• Finnish: ahimsa
• Indonesian: ahimsa (id)
• Japanese: 不殺生 (fusesshō)
• Korean: 비살생(不殺生) (bisalsaeng)
• Lao: ອະຫິງສາ (ʼa hing sā)
• Malay: ahimsa
• Marathi: अहिंसा m (ahiusā)
• Portuguese: ahimsa m or f
• Telugu: అహింస (te) (ahiṁsa)
• Thai: อหิงสา

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit अहिंसा (ahiṃsā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ˈhɪm.sa/
• Rhymes: -sa
• Hyphenation: a‧him‧sa

Noun

ahimsa (uncountable)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) ahimsa: A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them.

Further reading

• “ahimsa” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈĩ.sɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈĩ.sɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈĩ.sa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈĩ.sɐ/

Noun

ahimsa m or f (uncountable)

1. ahimsa (doctrine of non-violence in Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism)