Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 26:

"Atha chainaṁ nitya-jātaṁ nityaṁ vā manyase mṛtam
Tathāpi tvaṁ mahā-bāho naivaṁ śhochitum-arhasi"

Translation in English:

"If, however, you think that the soul is perpetually born and always dies, still you have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed."

Meaning in Hindi:

"यदि आपको लगता है कि आत्मा सदैव जन्मती रहती है और सदैव मरती रहती है, तो भी, हे महाबाहो! आपको शोक करने के लिए कोई कारण नहीं है।"

1: The Essence of Kshatriya – Guardians of Dharma

Kshatriyas, the warrior class in ancient Indian society, embody the principles of duty, honor, and protection. In this column, we delve into the essence of the Kshatriya, exploring their historical significance as the custodians of dharma (righteousness) and the integral role they played in shaping the cultural and social fabric of ancient India.

Description: Curious about Ahimsa in Jainism? Here's a respectful, honest guide to the principle of non-violence — and what it actually means in practice.

Let me start with something important.

When most people hear the word "non-violence," they think they understand it. Don't hit people. Don't start wars. Be nice. Pretty straightforward, right?

But in Jainism, Ahimsa — the principle of non-violence — goes deeper than almost any other tradition in the world. It's not just about what you don't do to other people. It's about how you relate to all living beings, down to the smallest insect. It's about your thoughts, your words, your actions, and the awareness you bring to every single moment of your life.

Ahimsa isn't just a rule in Jainism. It's the foundation. The core. The lens through which everything else is understood.

And while you don't have to be Jain to appreciate or learn from this teaching, if we're going to talk about it, we need to do it with respect. With care. With an understanding that this isn't just philosophy — it's a way of life that millions of people have practiced for over 2,500 years.

So let's explore Ahimsa in Jainism. What it actually means. Why it's so central to the tradition. How it's practiced. And what it can teach us — regardless of our own beliefs — about living with greater awareness and compassion.

What Is Jainism? (A Brief Context)

Before we dive into Ahimsa specifically, let's set some context.

Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that developed around the same time as Buddhism, roughly 2,500 years ago. The last and most well-known Tirthankara (spiritual teacher) was Mahavira, who lived in the 6th century BCE.

Core beliefs in Jainism:

• The soul (jiva) is eternal and goes through cycles of birth, death, and rebirth
• Liberation (moksha) is achieved by purifying the soul of all karma
• Karma in Jainism is understood as a subtle material substance that attaches to the soul through actions
• All living beings have souls and deserve respect and compassion
• The path to liberation involves right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct

The Five Great Vows (Mahavratas) of Jainism are:

1. Ahimsa — Non-violence
2. Satya — Truthfulness
3. Asteya — Non-stealing
4. Brahmacharya — Celibacy (for monks and nuns) or sexual restraint (for laypeople)
5. Aparigraha — Non-possessiveness/Non-attachment

Notice what comes first? Ahimsa. It's not just one of the principles. It's the primary principle. Everything else flows from it.

What Is Ahimsa in Jainism?

Ahimsa comes from the Sanskrit words "a" (not) and "himsa" (violence/harm). So literally, it means "non-violence" or "non-harm."

But in Jainism, Ahimsa is understood in the most comprehensive way imaginable.

Ahimsa means:

• Not causing harm to any living being
• Not just refraining from physical violence, but also from violent thoughts and speech
• Protecting and respecting all forms of life, no matter how small
• Being mindful of the consequences of your actions on other beings
• Living in a way that minimizes suffering to all creatures

This includes:

• Humans (obviously)
• Animals (all of them)
• Insects (yes, even mosquitoes and ants)
• Plants (though plants are considered less sentient than animals)
• Microorganisms (Jains were talking about tiny life forms centuries before microscopes existed)

Jainism recognizes five types of life based on the number of senses:

1. One-sensed beings — Plants, bacteria, elements (earth, water, fire, air)
2. Two-sensed beings — Worms, shellfish (touch and taste)
3. Three-sensed beings — Ants, lice (touch, taste, and smell)
4. Four-sensed beings — Bees, flies, mosquitoes (touch, taste, smell, and sight)
5. Five-sensed beings — Humans, animals with hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch

The more senses a being has, the more conscious it is considered to be, and the greater the harm in causing it suffering. But all life is sacred. All life deserves protection.

Why Is Ahimsa So Central to Jainism?

In Jainism, violence creates karma. And karma is what keeps the soul bound to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Every time you harm another being — through action, speech, or even thought — you accumulate karma that binds your soul. This karma obscures the soul's true nature, which is infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite bliss, and infinite energy.

The goal of Jainism is liberation (moksha) — freeing the soul from all karma so it can exist in its pure, perfect state.

And the way to stop accumulating karma is to stop causing harm. To practice Ahimsa so completely, so carefully, that you minimize violence to the absolute greatest extent possible.

That's why Ahimsa isn't just a nice ethical guideline in Jainism. It's the path itself. You cannot achieve liberation while continuing to harm living beings.

The Three Types of Violence (Himsa) in Jainism

Jainism categorizes violence into three types based on intention and awareness.

1. Intentional Violence (Samkalpi Himsa)

This is violence committed deliberately, with full awareness and intent to harm.

Examples:

• Hunting or killing animals for sport
• Physical assault
• Deliberately hurting someone out of anger or revenge
• Cruelty to animals

This is considered the most severe form of violence and creates the heaviest karma.

2. Unintentional but Avoidable Violence (Ārambhī Himsa)

This is violence that happens as a result of your actions, even though you didn't specifically intend to harm anyone — but it was avoidable.

Examples:

• Building a house (involves disturbing earth, insects, plants)
• Farming (tilling the soil harms microorganisms and insects)
• Cooking (involves fire, which is considered a one-sensed being)
• Walking without care and stepping on insects

This type of violence is understood as unavoidable to some degree if you want to survive and live in the world. But Jains are expected to minimize it through careful, mindful living.

3. Incidental Violence (Udyami Himsa)

This is violence that occurs as an unavoidable byproduct of living, despite your best efforts to avoid it.

Examples:

• Breathing (you inevitably inhale and harm microorganisms in the air)
• Drinking water (contains microscopic life)
• Walking (even with great care, you might accidentally step on something)

Jainism recognizes that as embodied beings, we cannot completely avoid causing harm. Survival itself requires some level of harm to other beings. But the teaching is to be as aware and mindful as possible, and to minimize harm to the absolute greatest extent.

Claude Shannon, one of the fathers of AI, once wrote rather disparagingly: “I visualise a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I’m rooting for the machines.” As we enter the age of AI — arguably, the most powerful technology of our times, many of us fear that this prophecy is coming true.It is

Description: Feeling overwhelmed by modern life? Here's why mindfulness actually matters — and how it can genuinely help you feel less stressed, more present, and more human.

Let me describe a typical day. See if this sounds familiar.

You wake up and immediately check your phone. Thirty notifications already. You scroll through social media while brushing your teeth. You eat breakfast while answering emails. You're in three different group chats while trying to work. You listen to a podcast while doing the dishes. You watch TV while scrolling Instagram. You fall asleep with your phone in your hand, still consuming content until the very last second.

And somewhere in all of that — in all that noise, all that multitasking, all that constant stimulation — you realize something kind of terrifying.

You weren't actually present for any of it.

You went through an entire day without really being there for a single moment of it.

That's modern life. That's what we've normalized. And that's exactly why mindfulness — the practice of actually being present, aware, and intentional — has become so important. Not as some trendy wellness thing. But as a genuine survival skill for staying sane in a world that's designed to fragment your attention into a million pieces.

Let's talk about why mindfulness matters. Really matters. And how it can actually help you feel more human in a world that's constantly trying to turn you into a distracted, overwhelmed, anxious mess.

First — What Is Mindfulness, Really?

Mindfulness gets thrown around so much these days that the word has kind of lost its meaning. So let's be clear about what we're actually talking about.

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment — on purpose, without judgment.

That's it. It's not about emptying your mind. It's not about achieving some zen state of eternal calm. It's not about sitting cross-legged and chanting.

It's simply about noticing what's happening right now — your thoughts, your feelings, your body, your surroundings — and doing it without immediately judging or reacting to it.

You're eating? Be there. Taste the food. Notice the texture. Feel the fork in your hand.

You're walking? Feel your feet hitting the ground. Notice the air on your skin. Hear the sounds around you.

You're upset? Notice that you're upset. Feel where the emotion lives in your body. Observe your thoughts without getting swept away by them.

It's about being where you are, instead of constantly being somewhere else in your head.

Simple concept. Incredibly hard to actually do. Especially now.

Why Modern Life Makes Mindfulness So Hard (And So Necessary)

Here's the thing. Human brains weren't designed for the world we're living in right now.

We're drowning in information. You see more information in a single day than your great-grandparents saw in a year. Your brain is processing thousands of inputs constantly — notifications, emails, ads, news, social media updates, messages, alerts. It's relentless.

We're always "on." There's no downtime anymore. No quiet. No boredom. The second you have a free moment, you fill it with your phone. Waiting in line? Phone. Commuting? Phone. Bathroom? Phone. We've eliminated every single gap in our days where our minds used to just... rest.

We're constantly comparing ourselves. Social media puts everyone's highlight reel directly in your face, all day long. Everyone's more successful, more attractive, more happy, more something than you. And your brain interprets that as "you're falling behind." Constantly.

We're trained to multitask. We're doing five things at once, all the time, and convincing ourselves that's productivity. It's not. It's just fractured attention that leaves you exhausted and feeling like you accomplished nothing.

We're addicted to stimulation. Our brains have been rewired to crave constant dopamine hits. Notifications. Likes. New content. New messages. The idea of just sitting quietly with your own thoughts for five minutes feels almost painful now.

And all of this? It's making us anxious, depressed, disconnected, and exhausted. Mental health issues are skyrocketing. Burnout is everywhere. People feel more isolated than ever despite being more "connected" than ever.

That's why mindfulness matters. Because it's the antidote to all of this. It's the practice of reclaiming your attention, your presence, and your sanity in a world that's actively trying to steal all three.

Christianity, which is sufficient in artistic expressions and symbols, gives its members a way of visually expressing their faith’s deepest truths. Christian art has been a pathway for conveying the exegesis of theological concepts, biblical accounts and spiritual insights from time immemorial when icons were first made until the Renaissance. This paper delves into Christian art and symbolism to uncover the layers beneath this imagery as well as explore its profound significance within Christianity.

The Role of Art in Christian Tradition: Art has always been an important part of Christian worship since ancient times. Frescoes with scenes depicting Christ’s life, martyrs and stories from the Bible were painted on walls by Christians in Roman catacombs. Those works of art were used to teach churchgoers who could not read but wanted to know more about Christianity by showing them what it was all about.

Religious Symbolism in Art: Among the attributes of Christian Art is symbolic representation of spiritual aspects and theological ideas. Symbolism enables artists to make use of visual language to express difficult concepts, which can be understood across different languages and cultures. Some symbols have been so ingrained into the collective memory of Christians throughout history that they continue to serve as powerful reminders of faith.

The most iconic symbol in Christian art is the cross, which signifies Jesus Christ’s crucifixion at its epicenter. The meaning behind the cross extends beyond just a reminder of Christ’s death on behalf of humanity; it also serves as a constant symbol for hope for redemption and eternal life. Made from fine wood carvings, stained glass windows or huge sculptures, crosses have always stood as one strong signpost for forgiveness and divine love.

The dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit is another common symbol in Christian art. During the depiction of Jesus’ immersion, the dove descends from heaven to symbolize the Spirit’s presence upon Christ. The dove also connotes peace, purity and renewal of creation as indicated in Noah’s ark bible story and its manifestation through a dove carrying an olive branch.

Other symbols that frequently appear in Christian art include fish which represent Christ and his followers, lambs symbolizing Christ’s sacrificial death and anchors that signify unshakable faith during trying times. Each carries deep significance and multiple layers of meaning so that they can always allow Christians to reflect on their faith mysteries in order to be closer to God.