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Bhagwan Mahāvīra declared that human race is one". He further says that there is nothing like inferiority and superiority among them. All men are equal in their potentiality. None is superior and inferior as such. It is not the class but the purification of self or a good conduct that makes one superior. It is only through the concept of equality and unity of mankind, which Jainism preached from the very beginning, that we can eradicate the problem of disintegration and class-conflict. It is mutual faith and co-operation which can help us in this regard. Jaina Ācāryas hold that it is not the mutual conflict but mutual cooperation which is the law of living.
In his work Tattvārtha Sūtra, Umasvati maintains that mutual cooperation is the essential nature of human being". It is only through mutual faith, cooperation and unity, that we can pave the way to prosperity and peace of mankind. Jainas believe in the unity of mankind, but unity, for them doesn't mean absolute unity. By unity they mean an organic whole, in which every organ has its individual existence but works for a common goal i.e. human good. For them unity means, ‘unity in diversity'. They maintain that every race, every religion and every culture has full right to exist, with all its peculiarities, but at the same time, it is its pious duty to work for the welfare of the whole humanity and be prepared to sacrifice its own interest in the larger interest of the humanity. In the Jaina text Sthānānga-sūtra, we have the mention of Gramadharma, Nagaradharma, Rastradharma etc. referring to one's duty towards one's village, city and nation that has to be fulfilled.
PROBLEM OF ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND CONSUMER CULTURE
Economic inequality and vast differences in the mode of consumption are the two curses of our age. These disturb our social
259 Jainism and its History
