Gyandhara 05

Author(s): Gunvant Barvalia
Publisher: Saurashtra Kesari Pranguru Jain Philosophical and Literary Research Centre

Page 58

science and technology and gigantic macroeconomic projects. But, alas ! The result is quite the opposite. The more we achieve, the more are the problems. We are getting materially richer and richer but simultaneously less and less happy. We are afflicted by the virus of, in the words of Oliver James, 'Affluenza'. Let us try to evolve a new paradigm of philosophy, mainly based on Jainism through which a balanced view of life can be made acceptable and a viable sustainable development can be made.
Jainism advocates a life-style based on the cardinal principles of spiritualism - ahimsa, stoicism, reduction and/or giving up the desire for material things. It says that one should pursue one's needs rather than one's wants. This brings us to the Economics of Mahaveer. Mahaveer's Economics :
Lord Mahaveer said, “Dhammo mangal mukkitham ahimsa, sanjamo tao.” That means Religion or spirituality based on non-violence i.e. ahimsa, restraint and austerity is the best auspicious for mankind. Mahaveer's economics is based on these three principles. He was not an economist and He didn't express any views on economic principles directly, but Acharya Mahapragya has developed these principles from the former's utterances on renunciation and self-restraint. Mahaveer has laid down the standards governing desires and prescribed the limits of consumption. We must realize that economic systems emerge from interactive human behaviour. The imbalance in the economic social order is generated by man's deviation from a righteous path. Mahaveer studied these patterns of human behaviour and propensities for deviation and laid down a twelve-fold code of conduct for his disciples based on twelve small vows.
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