Economics of Mahaveera

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Adarsh Sahitya Sangh

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The Blessings
The Gregorian year 1987; the city of Honolulu in America. Organisation of a seminar under the auspices of the University of Honolulu's Peace Institute and Devon Bodh Temple.
The subject of the seminar was 'Peace in the Context of Buddhism'. Delegates from fifteen countries were present. On the special invitation of Professor Dr. Glen D. Page, our delegation joined the seminar of the University of Hawaii.
There was a mention during the seminar that there was no reference if Buddha had said something about abnegation or dispossession. What was the view of Mahavira about it?
In that congregation of intellectuals, there was a preponderance of Buddhist thinkers. They were, perhaps, not fully conversant with the views of Mahavira. On that point in the deliberation, one of our representatives stood up and observed, "Mahavira said a great deal about abnegation or dispossession. His view was asamvighagi na hu tassa mokho. (One who accumulates wealth to self alone and does not share it with others cannot attain moksha (emancipation of total liberation)."
The Buddhist thinkers felt very satisfied with this principle. The delegation of Sonka University, Tokyo, who were participants, urged our representatives to visit Japan and took them there. The Japanese organised several seminars and listened to various views on Jain philosophy. When I heard this, a thought came to my mind that there should be a comparative study of Mahavira's views on the concepts of acquisition and
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