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Feb 8, 2006
This week's theme
Loanwords from Sanskrit

This week's words
dharma
mantra
ahimsa
sutra
nirvana

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

ahimsa

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

(uh-HIM-sah, uh-HIN-sah)

noun: The principle of refraining from harming any living being.

From Sanskrit ahimsa, from a- (not) + hinsa (injury).

"As my conception of ahimsa went on maturing, I became more vigilant about my thought and speech. The lines in the Anthem:
   Scatter her enemies
   And make them fall;
   Confound their politics,
   Frustrate their knavish tricks
particularly jarred upon my sentiments of Ahimsa."
M.K. Gandhi; The Story of My Experiments With Truth; 1927.

See more usage examples of ahimsa in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

X-Bonus

Why should I give them my mind as well? -Dalai Lama, when asked if he wasn't angry at the Chinese for taking over his country. (1935- )

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