Bhagavana Mahavira and his Relevance in Modern Times

Author(s): Narendra Bhanavat, Prem Suman Jain, V P Bhatt
Publisher: Akhil Bharat Varshiya Sadhumargi Jain Sangh

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Mahāvira's thought and its relevance in modern times
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violence without coming into contact of his opponent. Hence today's prevalent compelling circumstances have necessitated that we must go back to take refuge under Bhagavān Mahāvira. Bhagavän Mahāvira teaches and stresses that one should realise his complete identity with everybody. If someone is suffering then others should feel that they themselves are suffering. It is this realisation of absolute identity which can uproot one's ego, jealousy etc. which are solely responsible for violence. Besides, Bhagavān Mahāvira's Ahiṁsā is a key to the solution of a number of problems of modern times.
His doctrine of Aparigraha is nothing but an extension of it. It is regretted that its meaning has been frequently misunderstood by many. It is not that poverty or limitation of means is meant by it, but, on the contrary, it means something else. Bhagavān Mahāvira never commended poverty. He wanted perfection and, therefore, advocated perfection of everything. Hence it is to be borne in mind that there is no relation of Aparigraha with the so called modern socialism at all. The modern socialism means : “Nobody should surpass me in any field. All should be equal to me." It is difficult to bring about such an equality. What Mahāvira means by Apari- . graha is that no one should lag behind me; no one should remain inferior to me, i.e. whatever I possess, belongs to everybody. This kind of thought is quite practicable if a complete identity is realised. Then, Aparigraha will never remain a slogan only. It starts from the very level of an individual and proceeds upward whereas the modern socialism never attempts to touch the level of an individual. Aparigraha, in fact, is that which allows all to share one and the same property. In other words, in Aparigraha ownership of a particular thing is altogether rejected and its common distribution is approved. So, the materialism in itself is not so terrific as the way in which it is being accepted and implemented. Aparigraha on one hand, restricts the people from being hoarders and, on the other, carries them beyond materialism and leads to the path of spirituality.
Materialistic attitude is not as much responsible for conflicts as the conflicting ideologies. It so happens because people do not care for others. In early days there did exist controversies. It used to come about due mainly to the diversities of the interpretations of the scriptures. But today the point has undergone a complete change. There are now disputes over territorial matters. Horrified differences
emerge on the style of slogans. Hot discussions prevail on framing