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 and His Relevance
Mahāvira who can lead us to the right path. His teaching of Samabhāvītā is capable of keeping us out of this evil. His teaching inspires us to keep friendship with every living being : Mitti mai savvabhuesu vairam majhań na kenai.
Equality in the whole nation is only possible when there is no disparity of wealth in it. Where there economic disparity prevails, there become two groups-one is full of prosperity-possessing wealth more than necessary and another full of adversity deprived of even meeting his bare necessities. This difference gives birth to violence and war. Though today scientific advancement has increased the specd of production but at the same time it has not been able to control the greediness of the people. With the result, man hoards things and brings about an artificial scarcity of things. Hence, the world is suffering and starving. Today man is mad after material prosperity. He wishes to be prosperous without toiling hard. He wishes to have other's share and this leads him to corrupt practices. The result is that the entire country is in the jaws of smugglers and black-marketeers and the evils like bribary, adultera.. tion, hoarding and tax-evasion are rampant.
Lord Mahāvira in order to control the economic disparity and stealing gave vent to the teaching of non-possession and nonstealing. He spoke : There is in the world no bondage equal to possession. To hoard things more than necessary is a sin. It is a social crime. The key to pleasure and peace is to minimising necessities, controlling desires and abstinence from hoarding. Greediness makes a man miser and unsympathetic and he looses sense of discrimination. He tries to gather money by hook or by crock. Adulteration of injurious things in the edible articles is the explicit result of it. Lord Mahāvira taught non-stealing with a view to stop greediness. He asked men not to purchase those things which have come through stealing nor should they help a thief in any way. One should not do business violating the rules of the Government nor should he resort to any dishonest practice in selling any thing.
Considerable emphasis has been laid on non-attachement in order to stress on aparigraha. It is the duty of a good householder that he should not accumulate things in abundance. It is to be kept that much only which is essential and without which life