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ECONOMICS OF MAHAVIRA
peace of the individual. That which becomes a threat to the peace of the individual will destroy it and will be a danger to world peace. That which breaks the peace of the world will also destroy the peace of the individual. What does not become a threat to the peace of both the individual and the world ought to be the first guiding parameter of a new economic policy.
Violence Should not be Encouraged The second parameter of the economic policy is that it does not give encouragement to violence and killings. Voilence is interlinked with life. Ancient scholars have said: Jeeven Jeevasya Jeevanam - Life is the basic element of any living being. However, this is only a partial truth. It is not right to take it as total reality, it will not be right. There is perhaps no dispute about the fact that for living violence is also necessary. Violence cannot be given up entirely. That is why Mahavira added an adjective. Unnecessary violence should not take place; aggressive violence should not take place. Economic policy should be so formulated that it does not encourage unnecessary and aggressive violence. Let alone violence against man, there should not be unnecessary violence even against water; that is, it should also not be wasted. There should, of course, be no violence even against plant life. Even the smallest of the small creatures should not be killed unnecessarily. This is an essential desideratum.
In today's thinking, there is a basic misgiving. Ved Vyas had written in Mahabharata that nobody is superior to man. Mahavira also said that. Nonetheless, while it is right to say that nobody is superior to man, it can also be said that nobody is more irrational than man. When we synthesise the two elements. the whole truth will be found. The premise that nobody is superior to man implied that, in terms of development, nobody is superior to man. We have analysed this postulate in the context of Prekshadhyan. Man's blood circulation and organ systems, are so much developed, his brain power is so active, and consciousness and wisdom are so much awakened that there is no other living being equal to him. Even this is only a partial truth. It is, perhaps, on the basis of this premise that it has been
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