The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2653 page)

(1895–1982)
. Hindu reformer who succeeded, and developed the ideas of,
G
ndh
. Drawn to an ascetic life, he burnt his school certificates and eventually joined Gandhi's
rama
at Sabarmati. In 1921, Gandhi sent him to start a new
rama at Wardha, and in 1941 he was the first
saty
grahi
to be arrested in the civil disobedience movement. In 1951, the idea came to him of a middle way between Communist insurrection and landholding aggrandizement by asking large landholders to donate surplus land to the landless. The principle of
sarvodaya
, ‘welfare for all’, was not in fact far from Communism.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Violence
.

An aspect of human behaviour often bound up with emotions (especially anger), which religions cannot ignore—and often express. Opinion is divided as to where violence should be located along the nature—nurture spectrum. Those favouring natural processes or
psychodynamic theory
hold that religious activities reduce violence if they function cathartically, but increase violence if they result in frustration. An additional consideration is that religions often put ‘violence’—if that is what it is—to religious ends, examples here being
sacrifice
, head-hunting, many male rites of
initiation
, and the justification of war (
just war
) on religious grounds.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(P
li, Skt., ‘ripen’). The coming to fruition, in Buddhism, of an act—the consequence of the law of
karma
.