Economics of Mahaveera

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

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ECONOMICS OF MAHAVIRA
literature that poverty is a very painful experience and with this is associated too many children. Man suffers from both, the suffering of poverty and the suffering of too many children. There can be a number of reasons for the population growth, but the impact of kalkhand (or kal period) and malnutrition are the basic reasons for demographic growth.
Past and Present
Two thousand five hundred years ago, the problem of population did not exist. There was poverty and there was also unemployment, to some extent, but the population was not large. The system was village-oriented. People managed their living within the village; they produced everything there. All basic needs were met within the village itself. At that time, not many diseases affected the people. Common diseases were treated with medicinal herbs found in the forests. In the present age, the population has increased excessively. There are no resources to meet the needs. Villages are being deserted and big cities are coming up. The population of each of the three metropolises exceeds ten million. But, on the other hand, everything is dependent on the villages and their produce. In a situation like this, the problem of unemployment has increased. There is a lot of work, but the professional qualification is not available universally. That is why the problem of unemployment has risen so alarmingly.
Mentality of Fatalism
One concept which has held sway is one of fatalism. In India and in the Asian continent, belief in fatalism has been very deep. Man would sit idle assuming that things would happen automatically as God wills them, or things would happen the way it is carved out in one's own fate. Why then exert unnecessarily? This mentality of fatalism has contributed immensely to the increase in poverty and unemployment.
Mahavira was a believer in anekanta philosophy. He was neither a fatalist nor a believer in human effort only. In his philosophy, there was an amalgam of both. Fate does play its