Aparigraha the Humane Solution

Author(s): Kamla Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

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APARIGRAHA - THE HUMANE SOLUTION
had learnt the art of ‘filling' or 'stuffing' life in a dead animal just as a taxidermist would. Since they had learnt this art, three of them got very excited as they got a chance to use the knowledge they had, so that they would show the world that they had such special, high-quality knowledge. Thus they decided to 'fill' life in the dead animal. The fourth boy, though he had also learnt this art, tried to discourage the other boys from doing this since he was very scared and apprehensive as to what would happen after the dead lion came to life. But the other three boys did not pay heed to what this fourth boy was saying and just turned down his suggestion. So the fourth boy climbed the nearest tree terror-stricken, and watched what his companions were doing. The three boys went ahead with the job according to their own specialisations; one of them worked on ‘filling' life, the second one gave the lion the ability to move around, and the third one gave him a roaring voice. With their effort, acumen and precision they succeeded in replacing the dead lion with a living one. As soon as the lion came alive he, like the king of the forest, started moving about roaring, and in no time, crushed and finished all the three boys and satiated his hunger. The only one who survived this was the fourth, the 'coward,' who had foreseen the consequences. This piece of fiction has a high moral to preach and throws light on how one should try to foresee and judge the consequences of one's own actions. It is here, that we are able to see that there is a world of difference between knowledge and wisdom. It is our arrogance about our knowledge without knowing its limits that is leading us to disaster.
Man continues to damage nature in the process of his attempt to control it through technology. This leads to environmental suffocation and his own strangulation. In spite of his advanced knowledge of nature, he has created reasons for frustration and is also fighting a losing battle, since he has delinked knowledge from wisdom. By too much intervention in the process of nature he has disturbed his smooth relationship with it. He has completely ignored the fact that he is a part of nature, just one drop in the ocean. On the contrary he has out of his own self-interest devised a social system which strongly favours man as the centre of all creations with everything else made for him. Instead of God telling him that he is the best of all creations he has made God pronounce that he is