Jain Journal 1968 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 58

JAIN JOURNAL
Such restrictions imposed on various occupations could not but limit the scope for an entrepreneur. It also resulted into the confinement of Jaina religion among a very few people and failed to attract a lar number of lay followers.
At the same time the vow of ahimsā instituted the idea of the Economics of Peace before the ancient Jaina rulers. In absence of frequent wars expenditure on defence preparations may be saved and it can be directed to other developmental projects. This will be the practical value of the doctrine of non-violence.
There are two other great vows ; viz., the vow of truth and the vow of celibacy. Though both of them are much related with the ethical regulation of life but at the same time they are economically consistent too. Jainism preaches total denunciation of untruthfulness for a
aka. To give false evidence or to write false documents is forbidden. Similarly avoidance of any sort of unchastity and strict loyalty in marriage is also a fundamental vow for the laity. This may be regarded as the moral restraint on population explosion which very often becomes a problem before most of the countries.
Viewed as a whole, the five great vows and the aņuvratas prescribed for the laity, are economically consistent. They had always been helpful to the Jaina community in particular and pave the way for economic prosperity.
Austerity and economic prosperity :
At the first sight it appears to us like a paradox how economic prosperity could flourish in a strict code of conduct pushed to the extreme by Jainism. It is, however, a known fact that Jainism adopts the path of renunciation and is opposed to the Vedic path of prosperity which considers active social life desirable. Jainism holds the view that desire is insatiable and can never be completely fulfilled. The Uttarādhyayana Sūtra expresses this view as follows :
'And if somebody should give the whole earth to one man, it would not be enough ; so difficult it is to satisfy anybody. The more you get, the more you want ; your desires increase with your means. Though two māşās would do to supply your wants, still you would rarely think ten millions sufficient. 13
It is this paradoxical nature of the ascetic life which cannot be easily understood by scholars who do not try to go deep into this spirit. Although Jainism propounds moral principles even for the householders, Jaina ethics is predominantly for the monk clergy. The householder is required to observe only the aņuvratas. Perhaps the Jainas were the