Economics of Mahaveera

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

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ECONOMICS OF MAHAVIRA
contacts and influences, Gandhi reversed the principle that God is the truth. In the later period his principle changed to 'Truth is God'. It is one and the same thing whether we say that someone is inclined towards God or inclined towards truth.
Marx and Keynes both are, in real terms, economists, both inclined towards materialism. Marx is materialistic and Keynes is also materialistic. They are inclined towards the material, towards money and wealth.
With the disposition of people. we can know their personality. A principle propounded by a person is caused by his nature and disposition. Which person enunciates which principle depends on his nature, behaviour and temperament.
Inspiration
The second parameter is inspiration. What was the inspiration? A person works being inspired with some urge. He works according to his inspiration. Mahavira's inspiration was the good of others.
Associated with money, there are three types of objectives – selfness, benevolence and universal good. The inspiration of Mahavira was to achieve universal good, ultimate good. In Indian thinking, salvation became synonymous with universal good, that is freedom from bondage. To become free from bondage is to achieve ultimate goal.
The inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi was the same. Gandhi regarded salvation to be the ultimate goal.
Marx was inspired by compassion. Marx, while being an economist, was also a compassionate and sensitive personality. In India, the thinkers inspired by the principle of holistic or multidimensional development regard him as a saint. He had suffered the pangs of poverty. Incensed, he enunciated the Theory of Socialistic Economics. He believed that poverty can be eradicated. According to him, poverty and prosperity are both creations of man. It is, therefore, possible for man to banish poverty.
By this line of thinking, earlier we have said Marx was compassionate, Marx comes close to Mahavira. Mahavira's theory as well was that prosperity and poverty are creations of