Jains affirm ahimsa, non-violence, as the supreme ethical principle, held more radically than in any other tradition. Because Jain cosmology sees life everywhere, in beings of one to five senses pervading earth, water, fire, air, and plants, the Jain seeks to reduce harm to all of them in thought, word, and deed. Ascetics sweep the ground before them, wear a mouth-cloth, filter drinking water, and confine their movements to spare life; laypeople follow the principle in food, occupation, and conduct. Even unintended and subtle harm is weighed, and the intention behind an act is decisive, so that accidental harm carries far less karmic weight than harm willingly caused or wished.
This extreme extension of non-harm shaped Jain communities socially and economically over many centuries: because agriculture necessarily kills soil-dwelling organisms with every plough, and because many crafts and trades involve killing animals directly or indirectly, Jain communities historically concentrated instead in commerce, banking, and trade, occupations compatible with the vow, a pattern that left a lasting mark on the community's social profile in the regions of India where Jainism has been strongest. The principle also had influence beyond Jainism itself; the reformer Shrimad Rajchandra, a Jain scholar and poet, corresponded with and influenced the young Mohandas Gandhi, whose later philosophy of non-violent resistance drew in part on ideas he encountered through that friendship.