ISSUES OF PEACE, WAR AND ARMY IN ANCIENT INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
This article is the first in a series of publications devoted to understanding the problems of peace, war and army in the philosophy of the Ancient World. The author considers the contribution of Indian philosophy to the development of military-philosophical problems, based on the recognition of the distinctive character of Indian philosophy, which is the self-consciousness and spiritual basis of Indian culture. Ancient Indian philosophy - a Grand creation of the spirit, it offers its own, original, different from the traditional Western, solutions to the problems of concern to mankind, generates a specific system of life values of its followers. The article examines the military-philosophical content of the texts belonging both Orthodox and unorthodox schools of ancient Indian philosophy (“Laws of Manu”, “Bhagavadgita”, “Arthasastra”, “Mahaparinirvana Sutra”, etc.). In the mass consciousness of Indians great importance was attached to the principle of Ahimsa (nonviolence, refusal to harm all living things). However, the principle of Ahimsa was never observed unconditionally - it was impossible in the conditions of ancient Indian society, torn by deep contradictions. Despite the cult of nonviolence, the ancient Indian society objectively could not be a society without violence and war. Because of this, Indian philosophy could not completely ignore the problems of evil, violence and war. Thinkers of Ancient India expressed their own original opinions on reason, the nature, content war, considered the problem of classification of war, the moral content of military activities. In the ancient Indian philosophy, according to the author, one of the first attempts in the history of mankind to comprehend at the theoretical level the problems of peace, war and army is revealed. Military-philosophical ideas of ancient Indian philosophy remain relevant to the present time.