Jainism the Creed for All Times

SR No.: 006564
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D S Baya
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 2006
Total Pages: 420
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 78

of other species also. In their deeply realised wisdom, they gave us the declaration of dependence and the mantra of ‘interdependence of species’ by saying that all living-beings live with each-others' support (Parasparopagraho jīvānām). The Life-cycle -
What we and the animals, birds and fishes eat comes from the world of vegetation; what we excrete becomes food for the plants; we inhale the vital Oxygen released by the plants and they convert the Carbon-di-Oxide exhaled by us as food by the process of photosynthesis; the micro-organism survives on and converts the waste into manure that serves the food needs of the plant-life and the plants, in turn, provide food for higher life forms. The nature has its own checks and balances to keep everything to the required levels. The deer eats grass, the predators eat deer, the predators die and their bodies become the food for insects and carrion birds, and so the life cycle goes on balancing itself and providing for everyone's needs. It is only the human interference, driven by the race's greed rather than its need that the natural balance is disturbed. It is the human greed that results in mass deforestations, large-scale movements of species from their natural habitats to inhospitable circumstances and consequent destruction and extinction. The deforestation results in lesser rain-falls, global warming and famines and avoidable all-round misery. The human greed wipes out entire species and puts the survival of the others in gross jeopardy. The industrial progress, sans environmental concerns, has resulted in drilling holes in the Ozone layer, massive industrial and town effluents have polluted both, the ground and ground-water and effluent gases have not only resulted in global warming but have made breathing difficult for the living-beings.
Who is responsible for all this dismal picture that stares us in the face and who can take us out of this morass? The answer
50 : JAINISM: THE CREED FOR ALL TIMES