Competition and Annihilation (VAW)

             

Views and Words - Dr K S Radhakrishnan

                Advaita system aims at plurality and co-existence at the levels of both humans and non-humans. In a sense, it envisages an eco-centric universe, where the centre of every spacio-temporal manifestation should be at the centre within that spacio-temporal manifestation and it must be that centre which must be the governing force of each and every existence. Equality is an essential condition for pluralism; equality does not mean uniformity. It means uniqueness, identity and co-existence. Equality does not mean that everyone should get a share which has been fixed by an external force or authority, and everybody should be able to get his share as regulated by himself. In such an act of regulation, the individual should be very careful not to take the maximum but to confine himself to the minimum. The confinement of one’s minimum is the necessary precondition. And such a confinement alone will be able to guarantee plurality, equality, co-existence and freedom.

            A free society means a society that regulates itself just like a free individual means an individual who regulates himself; so is a free social mechanism. In this sense, freedom means self regulation. So, the regulated by himself and should regulate himself aspects should be the necessary tool to be noted in a pluralistic society. Such a society must be the strength of the world. A strong human being means a person who is being regulated by himself. Such an act or mechanism of self-regulation, is to be practiced by every individual, every institution, and every stations and positions in a society. But unfortunately, the first casualty of the modern economy or the said to be market economy is the plurality. If we attain the principles defined by the modern economy, then we have to think of the annihilation of all the rest for the existence as supreme. In such a society there cannot be co-existence but only competition and annihilation and a society that believes in competition and annihilation, cannot guarantee any sort of freedom. This is the second casualty in the modern economy. Here, the society can never be free, the individual never can be free, a nation can never be free. In such a set up it is also not possible to reach the actualization of all they potentialities of an individual. Naturally, the theory that competition is an essential condition for growth and development is absolutely nonsensical, illogical and also draconian in its nature because if we believe that there is competition, it ultimately ends up in annihilation. Such a society never gives the opportunity to express itself, to expose one’s own potentialities. So, a free society is the society that guarantees the actualization of the potentialities of one and all enjoying enough freedom to provide a set up where one must be able to actualize the inborn and the acquired talents and potentialities.

In this sense, Advaita aims at the acquired talents and potentialities. Take the example of an artist: an artist can never be able to express himself in a society that is being determined by too many forces. Here, even the Almighty God may not be able to create an individual with his genuine talents well actualized. The ethical principles of Advaita and the metaphysical ideas of Advaita can no doubt be in tune with the philosophy of such an economy. 

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