Why Do Some Sikhs Confuse Daya With Ahimsa?

[Tejwant Singh]

Sadh Sangat,

Guru Fateh.

From the Sikhi viewpoint, Daya for me is Compassion with Empathy... Which means a shoulder to lean on plus offering the skills to move ahead. Mercy is more like asking to feel sorry for the one..

Ahimsa is more an empty word in Hindu doctrine, although sentimentally it may be appealing to some. Ahimsa made Mughals abduct Hindu girls and rape them. Ahimsa made all the invasions possible in India. Ahimsa lacks grit and courage to fight injustice when it is needed the most. In other words Ahimsa is burying one's head in sand.


Tejwant Singh

 

[Archived_Member_19]

<<Ahimsa is more an empty word in Hindu doctrine, although sentimentally it may be appealing to some. Ahimsa made Mughals abduct Hindu girls and rape them. Ahimsa made all the invasions possible in India. Ahimsa lacks grit and courage to fight injustice when it is needed the most. In other words Ahimsa is burying one's head in sand.>>

wonderful deduction

 

[Randip Singh]

Sadh Sangat,

Guru Fateh.

From the Sikhi viewpoint, Daya for me is Compassion with Empathy... Which means a shoulder to lean on plus offering the skills to move ahead. Mercy is more like asking to feel sorry for the one..

Ahimsa is more an empty word in Hindu doctrine, although sentimentally it may be appealing to some. Ahimsa made Mughals abduct Hindu girls and rape them. Ahimsa made all the invasions possible in India. Ahimsa lacks grit and courage to fight injustice when it is needed the most. In other words Ahimsa is burying one's head in sand.


Tejwant Singh

Exactly. This is the problem we have from Punjabi/Sanskrit/Persian translations to English. There is not one word that adequately describes the term.

To say Daya is the same as compassion for every living thing puts it in the same boat as Ahimsa, and we know the Guru’s were dead against Ahimsa.

Would it be safe to say the following:

Daya – seeing things from another’s point of view and having sympathy enough to want to stand up for that person (even if it means sacrificing your own life). Daya applies to those who potentially have the capacity to have Daya themselves i.e. humans.

Ahimsa – not wishing to harm anything, or any creature, and if someone does something bad to you leaving it to divine retribution and Karma to set things right.

Daya is subjective.
Ahimsa is objective.