Was quotation "ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ" applicable to all?

 

This quotation is from Mahabharata.(1.11.12)

ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ sarvaprāṇabhṛtāṃ smṛtaḥ
tasmāt prāṇabhṛtaḥ sarvān na hiṃsyād brāhmaṇaḥ kva cit

Indeed, the highest Dharma of a person lies in showing compassion towards all living beings. Hence, a Brahmin should refrain from taking the life of any creature.

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The quotation "ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ" has been frequently misinterpreted.

While the core principle of non-violence is accurate, we have to consider the context in which the above statement was made.

It was often quoted by some religious/political leaders, without understanding the background of this quotation.

It does not refer to ordinary people in general and warrior class in particular. It is applicable to only to people engaged in spiritual activities.

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This was quoted by Dundubha while explaining to Ruru, who was bent upon killing all snakes, the importance of non-violence against non-venomous snakes.

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Story of Ruru

Ruru, the son of rishi Pramati, fell in love with Pramadvara. Her father Sthulakesa agreed, and their wedding was set for an auspicious day. Meanwhile, a snake bites Pramadvara when she was strolling and she dies instantly.

Ruru wails for Pramadvara and with the help of a messenger came from the heaven, he gets back life to his lover Pramadvara, by donating half of his life to her. Their marriage was performed and they had been leading a happy life.

However, Ruru nurtured a deep-seated desire for revenge against all the snakes and he vowed to kill every serpent he encountered.

One day while walking through the forest, he came across a old snake of the Dundubha species (fresh water snake) lying on the ground, stretching himself. Ruru immediately lifted his staff to kill the snake, however the snake pleaded Ruru to not hurt him. He asked the cause of Ruru’s anger.

Ruru explained his story. The water snake explained that Dundubha are different type of snake and are not poisonous. Dundubha shouldn’t be facing the wrath of Ruru’s for the mistakes of other poisonous snake, especially they are only snakes for the namesake. Ruru listening to the water snake and seeing him shaking in fear took pity on him and decided that he would not kill snake.

Dundubha explained that he was a Rishi named Sahasrapat, but transformed into a snake, due to the curse given by his friend. He regains his original form and explained to Ruru the duties of Brahmana.

• They are supposed to carry the world of god and must be mild in nature.
• They must be forgiving in their wrath and must not take up arms, cause that is the responsibility of a Kshatriya.
• Especially, to Ruru he said destruction of a race is never a good thing.
• He should listen to the learnings that King Janamejaya received from the great Astika.

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If we carefully study the above story, we can understand that the famous quotation ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ was stated, while narrating the duties of a Brahmana, ie., who is supposed to engage in austerities.

We can also observe Dundubha explaining that taking up arms is the duty of a Kshatriya.

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Hence, quotation ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ - Non-violence is the highest virtue is applicable only to a person, who is engaged in austerities/spiritual activities, but not to everyone else.