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The Value of Man's Freedom
183
Mahavira saw the world in another perspective. He established the idea that the world of beings survives on interdependence. If there is the seed of struggle or conflict in man why can there not be the seed of inter-dependence or mutual support? Ifa being is independent in his struggle then why can he not be independent in his inter-dependence also? The essence of Mahavira's teachings is that man is independent in both struggle and inter-dependence, but to establish peace in the world he should move away from the direction of struggle towards that of interdependence or mutual co-operation. In our lives there are much fewer moments of struggle or conflict and many more moments of interdependence or mutual cooperation. Mahavira did not discount man's independence. He has given a tenet for a change in direction. The sutra (theory) is : Man should direct his independence towards virtue and turn the negative into a positive.
We believe in opposites and so accept that as many problems so many remedies. Problems plague only those who
do not search fo solutions.
What is mine ? The more I try to understand, the more elusive it is. Nothing is mine. The meaning is clear, but I am not
willing to understand it.
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