Jain Journal 2014 07

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

Page 44

Dr. Chandranath Chatterjee : Impact of Jainism on Environmental Sustainability 45
and interact for mutual benefit. This mutualism ensures sustain ability of congenial, healthy and harmonions environment. In Jain chronology the time-cycle begins with Suşamā-Suşamā (Happiest) period (era) when all living and non-living live inperfect harmony, interact in mutually beneficial way. The environment also remains congenial without any pollution, erosion etc. and 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 ofgreed 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 at any stage by human beings to limit their numbers and consumerism commensurate with the carrying capacity of natural resources.
It is imprtant to mention here that in natural forest based life style, the populations remain optimum according to the availability of food naturally as proved in a recent experiment on wolves in Germany. With the advent of agriculture food availability was augmented artificially and this triggered increase in population, requiring more land for agriculture and necessitating more destruction and clearance of forests for cultivation, then more population and more requirement of land and more destruction of forest and the cycle continued till recently legally and illegally even now by extensive encroachments on remnant forest areas inspite of stringent laws. So long as population explosion continues, this will not stop.
As availability of land for agriculture became scarce, use of chemical fertilizers and poisonous pesticides increased and their indiscriminate use is single most maximum contributor off extensive pollution of air, water and soil. The dangerous pesticides through soil and food are entering in human body with biological magnification resulting in increasing incidence of fatal diseases of heart, kidneys, liver and cancers of various types. It is like turning of a good friend