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The Causes Of Environmental Degradation -
The causes of environmental degradation and ecological imbalance are not far to seek. They can be grouped under the following heads: -
1. Unplanned and reckless exploitation of natural resources, 2. Wasteful conspicuous consumption by human beings, 3. Removal of balancing agents from the Eco-system, and 4. Thoughtless release of polluting wastes from homes and
industries into the delicately balanced Eco-system.
The Jaina Remedy -
The Jaina way of life firstly prevents all these causes and secondly, helps in the restoration of the disturbed ecological balance as it regards non-violence and harmony between various parts of the Eco-system as inseparable. Lord Mahāvīra, in His preaching, laid utmost emphasis on maintaining harmony between the six types of life forms and said, “A considerate follower of the faith must treat all the six forms of life with equal concern and never act so as to hurt or injure them.” (Daśavaikālika, 4.29). Ecological Balance And Jaina Way Of Life -
The Jaina answer to this eternal problem lies in making the most evolved of the earthly beings, the human beings, responsible for its solution. As the Jaina way of life, for both - the clergy as well as the laity, has been evolved around the principal of nonviolence towards all life forms irrespective of their stages of evolution from the most evolved humans through the animals, birds and fishes as well as the insects and the microscopic organism, it makes for the preservation of the ecological balance by countering all the causes that go to disturb it. Jainism prohibits its followers from destroying of the interdependent life support systems that ensure such a balance by realising that other living 354 : JAINISM: THE CREED FOR ALL TIMES
