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in green-house effect, climate change, droughts, floods, storms, famines, pestilences etc. will influence and disturb the social environment, its stability, health and harmony. Likewise imbalances in social environment beset with conflicts and wars will adversely affect the physical environment, accentuating its degradation, pollution and imbalances. This in turn will disturb the social environment and the vicious cycle will go on.
Environment should be considered in its totality as a composite aggregate in which every constituent, smallest and largest, is equally important in its own specific symbiotic role. It can be compared with any organism in which there are trillions of cells; each cell works for the whole body or all cells and all cells work for every single cell.
ration on part of a single cell will destroy itself and all other cells and the body. In any man-made machine every smallest part is important for functioning of the machine. Environment is like an organism, a composite unified system in which every constituent is important and all constituents, small or large should be considered equally indispensable.
In Jainism equality of all is one of the important fundamental principles and even earth-forms, water-forms, air-forms, energy-forms, which are generally considered inanimate (non-living being), are considered life-forms similar to other living beings including human beings. This is unique in Jainism only and unparalleled as compared to other schools of thoughts, anywhere and at anytime. In recognized life forms also the smallest microbe has been assigned potentially the same status as highest evolved life-form of human beings, so much so that all living beings possess similar souls, all are capable of attaining the highest enlightenment, perfection and salvation.
It is also unique of Jainism that it subscribe to the principle of mutualism (symbiosis) in all interdependent interactions of all the constituents of environment, both animate and inanimate, stressing that all act and interact for mutual benefit. This mutualism ensures sustainability of congenial, healthy and harmonious environment.
In Jain chronology the time-cycle begins with Sukhma-Sukhma (happiest) period (era) when all living and non-living exist in perfect harmony interacting in mutually beneficial way. The environment also remains congenial without any pollution, erosion etc.; there are no natural calamities of floods, famines, storms, and also there are no conflicts and wars. The conditions decline from best to good to bad to worse gradually because of greed of mankind, its encroachment and exploitation of natural resources beyond their carrying capacities. Hopefully, however, in Jain cosmology there is mention of areas where conditions remain in best or good state as a result of realization by human beings to limit their numbers and consumerism commensurate with the carrying capacity of natural resources. The decline and rise, the pendulum of time-cycles swings up and down only in areas where mankind ignores and transgresses the principle of mutualism and succumbs to temptation of greed and indulgence in sensual pleasures of five senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
In the first Sukhma-Sukhma or happiest era it is Kalpavriksha (forest) based life-style and all essential requirements of food, shelter, clothes, chemicals, and medicines are met by various products of different kinds of trees. Initially the cause of environmental degradation was anthropocentric attitude of human beings that they are superb and supreme and all others are subservient to be utilized for their need, greed and hedonistic pleasures. The natural resources were exploited beyond their capacities, resulting in decline in their productivity. When Kalpvrikshas (forests) were destroyed, mankind invented and resorted to agriculture to artificially generate resources to meet their requirements. This further accelerated the pace of destruction of forests as vast areas of forests were cut, burnt and cleared for cultivation. In Mahabharata there is mention of "Khandavdaha" i.e. cutting, burning and clearing of forest areas for cultivation.
