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must work'. But even before that he had begun to pay homage to it after reading Ruskin's Unto This Last. "In my view the same principle had been set forth in the third chapter of the Gita where we have been told that he who eats without offering sacrifice eats stolen food. Sacrifice here can only mean Bread labour." He said referring to the third chapter of the Gita: "God created man to work for his food, and said that those who ate without work were thieves. Gandhi had an idea of social revolution behind the bread labour as well. He wanted to establish a society based on equality (of man). He said, "There is a world-wide conflict between capital and labour, and the poor envy the rich. If all worked for their bread, distinctions of rank would be obliterated; the rich would still be there, but they would deem themselves only trustees of their property, and would use it mainly in the public interest."131 He himself spun cotton, cultivated agriculture produce to bring home the idea.
Jainism belongs to the 'Shraman' tradition which has three Hindi synonyms, namely; Saman (observer of equanimity), Shraman (labourer or who performs self effort/ austerities) and Shaman (to pacify/suppress). Therefore, every living being has to work to achieve his goal. This dignity of labour is a distinct contribution of Jainism to Indian culture. Self-help and self-reliance constitute the basic motto of Jain religion. Laziness (Pramada) and disinterest in work (Avirati) are considered as some of the main causes of karmic bondage and violence in Jainism. Even to achieve Nirvana, one has to perform severe and strenuous penance to shed the karmas bonded with the soul. Even though we do not find the term analogous to bread labour implying body labour primarily in Jainism, yet the entire foundation of Jainism is based on labour of all types namely mental, vocal and physical and not just physical or body only.
Pg.174 Gandhi & Jainism
