________________
92
APARIGRAHA - THE HUMANE SOLUTION
social goal be achieved by arousing and provoking the devil in us, how would the devil look after our ethical goal; it looks like a selfcontradiction. Thus even though the goal for both socialism and aparigraha is the same but the ways to achieve it are in direct contrast to each other, even before the goal is attained it would get a jolt at the interim stage such as a stage of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. How can a dictator be expected to look after the freedom and dignity of mankind be it in the form of a monarch or a proletariat. Hence, it seems clear that the ways and means of attaining the ideal through 'voluntary socialism' of aparigraha and through the bloody revolution of Marxism would be fundamentally different, since one provokes the devil in man and the other constantly weakens him to keep the angel strong and alive in him.
Thus, to conclude, aparigraha, icchā parimāna is not an abstract philosophy, it is a vision of life with the solution to a number of problems that society is facing - economic, social, political, familial and personal. For social reconstruction, in fact, for survival of society voluntary limitation of desires and personal possessions is the only solution. Environmental degeneration due to too much spread of consumeristic ways of life can be checked only by the self-imposed discipline of limited desires and limited possessions. Amassing of wealth for the sake of amassing it will not help the individual nor the society; it is harmful for both, with increase in disparities leading to consequent evils of mental restlessness, jealousy, envy, curruption. The middle path of icchaparimāna would check both poverty and luxury with the motto that 'possessions are only a means and not the ends in themselves'.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
