Aparigraha the Humane Solution

Author(s): Kamla Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 63

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION-RISK TO HUMAN SURVIVAL 55
the constituents of praksti viz. sattva, rajas and tamas, undergo virūpaparināma i.e. sattva changes into rajas or tamas, tamas into sattva or rajas, and rajas into sattva or tamas; that is gunas do not transform into their own nature, like sattvainto sattva or tamas into tamas, but, into the nature of others. This is visādrasa parināma. This shows the dynamic ability of the constituents that they are able to transform themselves in such a remarkable manner; This ability comes from within and is not imposed on them from without. It is this which is real evolution or creation. If this dynamic quality gets disturbed, somehow, praksti would stop evolving, and on the contrary the process of dissolution (pralaya) would begin. This process is called Svarüpa pariņāma or sādrasa pariņāma. When the inner dynamism of praksti gets stalled, purusa is in no position to enjoy the gifts of prakrti which it releases from its store. The process of evoluotion and dissolution are beautifully explained in Sāmkhya metaphysics. Praksti in Sāmkhya is unintelligent and unconscious but the way it behaves, shows that it has remarkable wisdom unique to itself, which far exceeds the collective scientific knowledge that man has at his disposal which is called 'unconscious teleology' or to put it more contextually it is ‘teleology unknown to man'. What man knows of nature is so little that it is wrong to say that he knows a substantial portion of it. When we try to think of this we are left with a sense of bewilderment as to how nature makes the strong to survive and how it makes the weak to die.
This only provokes us to ask whether the so called process of 'development' is taking us anywhere near evolution in any true sense, or is it just stopping or limiting the dynamic quality of nature which will suddenly say ‘no more' and 'enough is enough' and 'I have nothing else to offer to you'. This development' is getting closer to pralaya than to evolution or creation. It is time for us to ponder over the state of things in the present day world. True, the west may be blamed for being the pioneer but those who are blindly trying to ape them are no less to be blamed.
A new light is thrown in a book, 'Staying' Alive by Vandana Shiva to the preservation of nature, in which she says prakrti is a symbol