# अहिंसा (ahiṃsā)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/ahimsa

अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) is a Sanskrit word meaning harmlessness, security, non-injuring of any creature. Its 12 recorded definitions are grouped into 4 contexts, among them Ethical/Religious Doctrine, Non-Injury / Harmlessness, Security / Safeness.

- **Etymology:** E. अ neg. हिंसा hurt — E. a neg. hiṃsā hurt
- **SLP1:** `ahiMsA`  **IAST:** ahiṃsā  **Devanagari:** अहिंसा
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahimsa
- **Declensions:** 24 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/ahimsa/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### Ethical/Religious Doctrine (5 definitions)
- Harmlessness, abstaining from injuring or causing pain to others in thought, word, or deed.  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 0219-a ] 1 Harmlessness, abstaining from killing or giving pain to others in thought, word, or deed; as अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) परमो धर्भः (ahiṃsā paramo dharbhaḥ); Bhagavadgītā (Bombay) 10. 5; Manusmṛti 10. 63, 5. 44, 6. 75. [ ID=5689 ]
- Harmlessness or non-injury to any living being.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अ (a) हिंसा (hiṃsā) (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 101 ] अ (a) हिंसा (hiṃsā) (ahiṃsā) f. ( - सा (-sā) ) Harmlessness, doing injury to nothing, one of the cardinal virtues of most Hindu sects, but particularly of the Bauddhas and Jainas. E. अ (a) neg. हिंसा (hiṃsā) hurt. [ ID=4873 ]
- Harmlessness, refraining from injuring or killing any living thing  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 090-08 ] अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) f. Harmlessness, the not injuring or killing any thing, अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) सत्यमस्तेयं शौचमिन्द्रियनिग्रहः । एतं सामासिकं धर्मम् (ahiṃsā satyamasteyaṃ śaucamindriyanigrahaḥ. etaṃ sāmāsikaṃ dharmam) M. x.63, v.44, vi.75, Bg. x.5. [ ID=4610 ]
- Harmlessness or non-injury to living things.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अ (a) हिंसा (hiṃsā) (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 083-a ] अ (a) हिंसा (hiṃsā) (ahiṃsā) f. ( - सा (-sā) ) Harmlessness, doing injury to nothing, one of the cardinal virtues of most Hindu sects, but particularly of the Bauddhas and Jainas. E. अ (a) neg. हिंसा (hiṃsā) hurt. [ ID=4871 ]
- non-injury in thought, speech, and action towards all living beings  
  *The Purana Index*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 1-141 ] Ahiṃsā — one aspect of Sanātana dharma, largely observed in Tretāyuga; 1 non-injury in thought, speech and action towards all beings prescribed for ascetics. 2 [ Footnote: 1) Br. II. 29. 69; 30, 35; III. 23. 51, 68 and 72.] [ Footnote: 2) Vā. 18. 15-16; M. 61. 15; 106. 48; 143. 12-13 and 30.] [ ID=1113 ]

### Non-Injury / Harmlessness (3 definitions)
- Harmlessness  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 079-b ] अ - हिंसा (a-hiṃsā) ( सा ) ((sā)) 1. f. Harmlessness. [ ID=4242 ]
- harmlessness  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 057 ] अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) f. the not injuring or being injured, harmlessness. [ ID=3927 ]
- non-injuring of any creature  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 124-a ] á-hiṃsā, f. non-injuring (any creature). [ ID=553 ]

### Security / Safeness (3 definitions)
- security  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > security, safeness, Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title); Aitareya-brāhmaṇa (Title) [ ID=21897 ]
- Security  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 0219-a ] 2 Security. [ ID=5689 ]
- 1. Harmlessness or non-injury. 2. Security or safeness.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > अहिंसा (ahiṃsā) [Printed book page 0109-c ] A-hiṃsā, f. harmlessness, not injuring anything, one of the cardinal virtues of most Hindū sects, but particularly of the Buddhists and Jainas; security, safeness. —Ahiṃsā-nirata, as, ā, am, devoted to harmlessness or gentleness. [ ID=7778 ]

### Personification of Ahiṃsā (1 definition)
- harmlessness  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 125,2] अ - हिंसा (a-hiṃsā) f. not injuring anything, harmlessness (one of the cardinal virtues of most Hindū sects, but particularly of the Buddhists and Jains; also personified as the wife of Dharma, Vāmana-purāṇa (Title) ), Chāndogya-upaniṣad (Title); Nirukta, by Yāska (Title); Manu-smṛti (Title) &c. [ ID=21896 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; The Purana Index; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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