Every religious epic contains certain moral principles deemed important by that religion. Superficially, all of them may seem diverse, but when we look deep down, we can find an underlying unity in them. There are several important principles that are expounded in remarkably similar ways in the books belonging to different religions, though the expressions may be different. One such principle is reciprocity, which means treating others the way we want them to treat us. This is called ‘The Golden Rule’—a term first used by Charles Gibbon in 1604.
In the Bible, this principle was spoken of by Jesus in Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12, in the following words—‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ In the Mahabharata, after the great war, Yudhishthira went to Bhishma who was lying on a bed of arrows, and requested his guidance. Just then, Vrihaspati came there. Bhishma told Yudhishthira that Vrihaspati had great intelligence and he should first seek Vrihaspati’s guidance. One of the things he told Yudhishthira was—‘One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma.
Other behaviour is due to selfish desires.’ At a different time, Bhishma himself said, ‘Knowing how painful it is to himself, a person should never do that to others which he dislikes when done to him by others.’ Vidura, the wise minister of Hastinapur, also said, ‘That which is antagonistic to one’s own self, should never be applied in respect of another.’
In the Quran, the same thought is expressed as: ‘Do unto all men as you would they should unto you, and reject for others what you would reject for yourself.’ It is said once Prophet Muhammad was riding a camel when a Bedouin tribal stopped him by grabbing the stirrups of his camel and said, ‘Teach me something that will take me to heaven.’ Muhammad is said to have replied, ‘As you would have people do to you, do to them. What you dislike to be done to you, don’t do to them. Now let go of the stirrup.’
In Judaism too, this principle has been considered a central one. It has been called the most important message of their sacred book, the Torah. Hillel, the elder said, ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation.’ The two pacifist religions of Buddhism and Jainism extend the concept of reciprocity to all creatures. Buddhism says, ‘Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.’ Jainism says, ‘A man should wander about treating all creatures as he would himself be treated.’