Economic Thought of the Mahabharata : A Note

By DR. MOUSUMI GHOSH and DR. RAMESH CHANDRA MUKHOPADHYAYA

2006

Introduction

The Mahabharata is the largest epic under the Sun. It has one lakh slokas. Each sloka consists of four lines. Thus the Mahabharata has four lakh fyttes. It is a vast matric woven with words. Numerous fables, myths, legends, fairytales-in short literature of every kind including realistic episodes abound in it and it resembles a vast variety of narratives woven into a pattern immeasurable to man. Hence, scholars with different ends in view have approached the epic. Some have retrieved its myths, some others have tried to explore the different philosophical systems prevalent during the days of the Mahabharata as embedded in the epic. Others have sought to explore the philosophical import of the epic, if any. Some others have again tried to reconstruct the society as laid down in the Mahabharata and its historical importance. The Mahabharata is thus a vast continent , as ancient as the hoary hills and yet newly discovered as it were , where, explorers and adventurers of myriad kinds have dared and are still daring to unearth the never-discovered- before wealth of some or other kind. Our pursuit is for economic thought in the Mahabharata.


Man is never satisfied with the surface. He wants to make a meaning of the same. Hence, some probe into the psychological motives hidden below human behavior. Others might seek for economic motive behind every human action. The followers of Freud and Jung would read the play of Id, Ego and Super Ego and the collective mind in any drama. The students of Marx would argue that there must be economic substructure lurking behind any cultural superstructure raised by man, be it a piece of literature or art, a funeral or a festival.


Our pursuit in this small book is to throw some light on the economic thought as embedded in the Mahabharata. Why search for economic thought in the Mahabharata? Is it not a pointless exercise in scholarship? The answer is perhaps an emphatic NO. Our existing system of education insists on the study of economic thought that had begun with the ancient Greeks. See Eric Roll.


In India, the history of economic thought must be linked with of ancient India. Economics is the study of man in his everyday getting and spending. Hence some or other kind of economic thought is prevalent in every society, primitive or modern. Every society is instinct with some kind of economic thought. The history of Islamic domination of India yielded to Christian domination of India that lasted for two hundred years. And modern economic activity made its inroads into Indian society. And yet the East is east and the West is west- never shall meet the twain. The economic activity of a country is very much rooted in the tradition of the country. The Meiji restoration of Japan must be understood in the light of its Samurai tradition. In the same way modern Indian economy must be read in the light of modern Indian economic thought and at the same time it should be read in the light of traditional economic thinking. Or else one cannot explain the Indian economy as it is, granted that Indian economy is a developing one, lagging much behind the developed economies of the West. And how is it that millions in this country afford to remain unemployed by choice? Anyone who visits a Kumbha Mela will eye-witness it. Has any economist whatever taken notice of such a great phenomenon? What should be a truly economically developed country like? Is it not a country where those who are not willing to work, need not work? There is no such country under the Sun as yet unless it is India. What is development? How to define it? This is not the riddle of Sphinx. A few years earlier they pinned their faith on the per capita income of a country. But right now they speak of such indicators as child mortality rate, primary education, age expectancy and the like as the indicators of development. Indeed, when the outlook of the world changes, it gives fresh weightage to hitherto ignored facts. Educated in western lore we are always apt to read the western notion of development in Indian economics. But this is out rightly wrong. Every man and every culture has its own goals. Development should mean the attainment of such goals that a culture or a people aspire to. Indian culture is very much informed with the values as set forth by the two ancient epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. While the so called educated few might revel in quoting from Friedman or Freud or Marx, the unlettered villagers in India can quote lines together from the Mahabharata or the Ramayana , translated in his vernacular. The goals in human life, as enshrined in these epics as well as the Puranas , which are of no less importance, are dharma, artha, kama, moksha. And every legitimation on economic thought in the Mahabharata must be understood in these contexts. And economic activity in India must be read in the context as set down by the time-honoured tradition as laid down in the Mahabharata and its kins- the Puranas. For example, a school of thinkers have been for long complaining that, trade union movements in the right sense of the term never takes place in India since the labourers , be it in collieries or jute mills , go back to their village homes go back in their village-homes as soon as there is lock out or closure of the factory or the mine. Had they no nostalgia for their village homes, they would have fought to the finish, lingering in the margin of the city despite all odds and there would be a change in the attitude of the owners. But this can never happen in India. Let us not assume that every one of the labourers has enough landed property in the village. Still the nostalgia for the village will linger in the working men because India is a country where the same tradition lingers since time immemorial. Nostalgia for the village is the nostalgia for tradition as well. The capitalist values emergent from the West have not been able to change the hearts of Indians. They have only effected a face lift of the country. Hence by tradition, India is a peace -loving country in the large despite its enshrinement of the heroics in war on the surface. So we posit hereby that in order to understand the economic state of our country today, it is urgent that we had better understand the economic thinking of ancient India. And here is a humble attempt in that direction.


We propose hereby to study the economic thought as embedded in the Mahabharata. The main action of the vast narrative revolves round a conflict hinged on the right to inheritance. In other words economic cause seems to be at the core of the action of the Mahabharata. This is not all. Man is never satisfied with the surface. He wants to make sense of it. He seeks to add a meaning to the same. Hence he approaches this world of perception from n levels. The students of Freud and Jung will find a play of Id Ego and Superego and collective mind behind the show of an epic action or narration. The Marxists on the other hand, seek to discover an economic substructure, lurking under any cultural superstructure, be it an epic or a lyric, a festival or a funeral. In short no one, be s/he an idealist or a materialist, trusts the surface as it is. And every fresh angle, adds a new meaning to the phenomenal World or the text. The economic approach therefore could decode every fable every myth in the text in economic terms of getting and spending. But our focus has been on the sections of the Mahabharata where explicit statements on public administration and public finance and economic thoughts have been spelled out. The Mahabharata is a vast work where references to economic thought, philosophical thought, political thought, and jurisprudence are littered at random all over. Prof Mousumi Ghosh , a scholar of wide interests and a student of economics has closely read a few sections of the Shantiparva and Sabhaparva , where economic thought is explicitly stated. Thus her work is not an exhaustive study of the economic thought of the Mahabharata. But it throws a significant light on the same worth-noting for the scholars and historians and the genera readers. It was at her instance indeed, that I have collaborated with her, in this small book. With me economics is much misunderstood a subject. Carlyle and Ruskin thundered upon it as the gospel of Mammon. But in reality what we study is not money, but man in his everyday activities. Money is just, a tool whereby wealth could be easily measured, by a standard, or stored symbolically, or transacted. Money could be saved against rainy days. Money could be stored for participation in speculation. The notion of wealth is crucial to economics. It is something that has utility, scarcity, transferability and externality. If anything fulfills all these criteria, it is wealth. And surely wealth is not altogether material. The good will of a company is not altogether material. Its materiality is proved to be its exchangeability. When we buy a book or a painting we do not buy it for its material like the printed pages or water colour and drawing sheet, we buy it for its content the price of which is determined by the culture that reads its. Wealth is required to satisfy our wants. It is said that our wants are ever on increase, but our resources are limited. Economics is the study that seeks to grapple with our ever-escalating want with our limited resources. If this definition of economics is granted, we must also confess that the wants of the people of every age or every culture is not identical. The aspirations of the people as depicted in the Mahabharata are quite different from ours. If wants are different the wealth they look forward to could be different from what we deem as wealth today despite the fact that in both cases, the four criteria of wealth are fulfilled. What they seek is not wealth after all, the attainment of which leads one to happiness. Economics through the decades is gradually exploring fresh plans of happiness and thereby its notion of wealth is also changing. The primary education, age expectancy are also being deemed as wealth. Environment is wealth. My attempt has been to explore the broad out-line of the aspirants of the people in the Mahabharata of what constitutes their happiness against which economic thoughts of the Shantiparva efflorescence. The Mahabharata is a unique matrix of every idea, philosophical, social, linguistic, political and what not. No wonder, that in order to determine the economic thought of the Mahabharata one must take into account the concept of the society and its values are embodied in the Mahabharata.


Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya( R.C.M)

SADJA GITA

The present article dwells on Sadja Gita. Sadja Gita is significant for its n deliberations on the outlook and the philosophy of life of men of the Mahabharata. By the by Sadja Gita is a Gita- a genre in its own right that abounds in the Mahabharata.


The Gita often is the conversation between Bhisma and Yudhisthira. The Sadja Gita on the other hand has the conversation between Vaisampayana and Janmejaya as the frame. Janmejaya is the grandson of Yudhisthira and his four brothers. Thus Sadja Gita is much later in time than the earlier Gitas. While in course of conversation with Yudhisthira Bhisma cites the speeches by kings and saints of yore as the Gita. Vaisampayana here cites the conversation among the five brothers and Vidura- the six as the Gita before Janmejaya. This shows how history is being made. While the tale of the Vrtra or Bodhya makes the history for Bhisma and Yudhisthira, Yudhisthira himself becomes the part of history for later generations. Thus the Mahabharata does not invoke history or myths only, it shows how mythicisation takes place. What is present today becomes past tomorrow and becomes the source of knowledge for tomorrow. We are decentred from the present of one point of time to the present of another point to time. While the earlier Gitas were chiefly conversations between two persons viz Vrtra and Sanaka or Bodhya and Yayati or a soliloquy of Harita or Munki, here is a conversation among six persons cited as the Gita. Since six persons participated in the present Gita it is Sadja Gita. It opens as it were posing a question in response to the earlier Gitas. The earlier Gitas unanimously posit that renunciation is the road to peace. But the frame of reference of the age of the Mahabharata pins its faith on the Varnasrama and Chaturvarga as the ideals of life. In the Harita Gita, it is said that one who has renounced must not be in touch with those who have embraced Vanaprastha even. Thus the earlier Gitas have not paid any attention at all to the Varnasrama. The Chaturvarga theme has been taken up here for discussion.


The Sadja Gita opens with the query of Yudhisthira.


Dharmechaarthe cha kame cha lokavrittihsamahita


Tesha, gareeamkatamomadhyamahkolahuschakah


Three objects impel human beings to act in life. They are dharma, artha and kama. Which one of them is higher an ideal, and which one of them is less on importance?


Vidura, the venerated uncle of Yudhisthira replies that dharma is of prime importance. Dharma with Vidura implies Law that impels nature.


Dharma lokahpratisthitah.


But since men have freedom of choice, dharma constitutes wide studies, penance, sacrifice, and respect, rituals, pardoning others, kindness, truth and self- control. Vidura observes that the worldly life has been crossed by the saints only through the observation of dharma. Dharma with mankind means to love one’s neighbor as one’s own self.


Vidura however does not altogether discard economic pursuit. He says that the pursuit for money is next in importance to the pursuit of dharma.


Arjuna , however, puts forward a different view. With him this world is meant for different economic activities such farming, trade and commerce, industry and craft and so on. To follow such economic activity one must have money. If one has to attain the two other objects of dharma and kama, one must have money first. Arjuna uses a wonderful image to explain himself. With him dharma and kama are but physical features of economic substructure.


A modern mind is struck with surprise at what Arjuna says. It was only in the nineteenth century that the Jewish-German philosopher Karl Marx pointed out that literature, art and whatever is there in the name of culture, including the relationship between man and man has not originated on their own. They constitute the superstructure of the society of which economic forces are the substructure. Marx maintained that th4e literature and society of any particular age is at heart impelled by the economic forces of the time. While Carlyle and Ruskin debunked economics an emergent discipline of study in the nineteenth century as the Gospel of Mammon the economists themselves defended Economics saying that what they studied was not money as an end in itself but man in relation to money to satisfy his everyday need. Arjuna seems to voice the same idea in the Mahabharata.


And if we take the cue from Arjuna is it not legitimate to interpret the Mahabharata and the Gitas and the whole of Puranic literature and the ancient culture from economic point of view?


Arjuna further underlines his point by saying


“tadgatarthampurusamvishistarayanayah


Brahmanamivapurusamvishistarayanayah


Brahmanamivabhutanisanatamparyupasate


Jadjinadharodantahpankadigdhahjitendriyah


Muktanistanavaschapivasantyartharthinahprithak


Kasayavasanaschanyesmashrulahrinisevitah


Vidvamsachaivashantaschamuktahsarvaparigrahaih”


Even the recluses cannot do without wealth. So wealth is of primary importance in life.


The way Arjuna describes the saints as in need of money as has no prejudice against the so called saints unlike in Sankaracharyya where we find saints only in appearance. They don their saintly robes only to keep away the wolf of hunger.


“hyudaranittambahaukritavesam”


Be that as it may Arjuna’s world-view seems to contradict the world views of Harita and Bodhya.


The critics of Marx observe that economic forces are not always the ones to impel a period’s culture. On the contrary, a particular period’s culture might determine the economic forces of the time. Nakula and Sahadeva in response to Arjuna’s reductionism of history to economic force take an eclectic stand. They posit that every man should always seek more money no doubt. Because one who has no money cannot fulfill his desires. At the same time an unscrupulous person who is after money does not acquire money in the right sense of the term. Because money is never an end in itself as the economists of today would testify. If money is not properly utilized in pursuit of dharma and kama, in pursuit of the well-being of the society and in pursuit of the physical and spiritual well- being of the self, it is not money indeed.


Bhimasena, however posits otherwise. With him, Eros or Kama is at the bottom of human existence. Here Bhimasena seems to be one with Freud, the psychologist par excellence. While Marx posits that every human behavior is actuated by the hidden forces of economic wants, Bhimasena observes that even economic wants are actuated by Eros or Kama or Zest for life. Freud has been much misunderstood. What he says that every activity of a man is impelled by sex and sex alone he does not mean physical sex by it. The connotation of sex is as wide as that of Kama. And Bhimasena like Freud observes.


“kamenayuktehrisayastapasyevasamahitah


Palasaphalmuladyavaynbhaksyahsusamyatah


Vedopavedesvayuktahsvadhyayaparagah


Sraddhayajnakriyaanachatathadanapratigrahe


Vanijahkaravahsilpinastatha


Daivakarmakritaschaivayuktahkamenkarmasu”


Even the penance of the ascetics who are plunged in trance is also instinct with desire. Those who are engaged in rituals are also driven by desires. The different economic and artistic activities are also impelled by desires. Desire is like oil in the oil-seed. It is the butter in the whey. Desire is the fountain head of all dharmic and economic activities.


In modern psyche a conflict is raging between Marxism and psychological interpretation of life and activity. Marxism has discarded the hypothesis of a spirit that impels all the thinking things and all objects of all thoughts and replaced it with economic force. Consequently Marx finds the society as torn between the haves and have nots. Marx is all for the latter. And his is the call to arms on behalf of the have nots. But Freud stands in the way like Bhimasena. He argues that every human activity is propelled by desire at bottom. And since the desire of a labourer and that of a rich man is equally charged with Id, the difference between the haves and have nots is true only on the surface. Actually, one cannot be distinguished from the other. Power corrupts man and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And every man, be it a prince or pauper, instinct with the same kind of desire, will behave in the self-same manner in the same objective condition.


Be that as it may, Bhimasena therefore observes that desire should be pursued with as much zeal as the two other objects of life in dharma and artha.


One thing is very clear from the speeches of Arjuna and Bhimasena, Nakula and Sahadeva. They do not want to repress the a priori instincts of man. On the contrary they want to sublimate them, harmonizing them to a particular end and whereby both the individual and the society become the beneficiaries.


The discourse is clinched up by the speeches of Yudhisthira. He frankly tells that one who is not drawn to activity with a view to getting at reward in heaven in this life is a right doer. He gives equal weightage on stone and a piece of gold. He does not pay heed to any of the three objects of life-dharma, artha and kama. He perceives that everything whatever in this world is subject to decay and death. The ideal person wants to get rid of that. One who has cultivated affection for anything or any being in this world is miserably caught up in the net of worldly life. Hence one must not be drawn to anything or abhor anything.


Finally Yudhisthira posits that since man cannot do anything on his own and since God is all powerful, there is no point in pursuing dharma, artha and kama – the three objects of life. The fourth object of life viz. moksha or liberation from this worldly life is all that man should look forward to.


Yudhisthira’s speech satisfies all his four brothers and everybody else present during the discourse. The Sadja Gita as we have already pointed out is quite different from the earlier gitas in as much as more people participate in the discourse. Actually Sadja Gita taken apart from the Mahabharata likens the interlude of medieval English drama. In an interlude there is a contest of words among its protagonists. Finally one among them outwits the others as the drama comes to its close. But unlike an interlude here the participants in this discourse are highly serious in their speeches and opinions and they are keen to know the truth. Krishna himself in the Bhagavad Gita says that he is vadahpravadatam itself of the debaters.


In other words, he is all for debates only when such debates are meant for determining the truth when conflicting arguments on an issue seem to exist. The Sadja Gita is a model of such arguments among the seekers of truth. The arguments as put forward here seem to observe the rules of nyaya in the outline. Because every speaker had his pratyaksha or direct observation, shavda, anumana, amdupamana.For example Arjuna finds every man in pursuit of wealth, i.e. his pratkshya.There is already the shavda- everyone should pursue wealth as a part of the chaturvargaviz. dharma, artha, kama, moksha.This shavda was given to Yudhisthira. The anumana or inference is that economic force impels every activity.


The pratakshya of Arjuna, however, is contradicted by the same of Nakula, Sahadeva or Bhima and so on; consequently their inferences differ.


But there is one particular point common in the speeches of Arjuna, Bhima and Yudhisthira as well as in the ideas of the nineteenth century modern thinkers. All of them are reductionists. They reduced the varied and variegated world of appearances as been impelled by one single force be it economy or sex or God.


This is not all. In the society of the Mahabharata they pin their faith on varnasramaandchaturvarga. Krishna himself says in the Bhagavad Gita that it was he who forged the varna and ashram in the society. The concept of varna is associated with asramas.The first three varnas must go through the four stages of life or chaturasrama. In the childhood they must live with their teacher and lead a life in the midst of strict discipline. They will be away from the so called comforts of life in youth; however, they will join the worldly life and pursue artha and kama. They must earn money. They must have the object of desires. But everything should be directed towards personal peace and happiness as well as towards the peace and happiness of the society and the neigh ours. Thereafter comes the third stage. It is during old age. They give up the worldly life for a life in the forest. Finally the fourth stage turns up when each one of them is in communion with the collective mind of the Brahmanas.


The concept of the varnasrama and chaturvarga have been very precisely dwelled on by Madalasa in the MarkandeyaPurana.


Collectively enough Yudhisthira in his discourse seems to openly discard this notion of varnasramaand chaturvarga. He posits that liberation from this worldly life is all that matters. Hence it follows that the second ashrama becomes irrelevant. Or else, he observes that one might be in any stage of life. Yudhisthira points out that since God almighty determines everything for us, we have no objects in life to pursue. Let custom have its way. Let the body have its way. Man has nothing to do. So man’s fortunes are never tainted by what his body or mind does. This happens only when man is aware of it. Otherwise if he identifies his body or mind with the self, he must undergo the consequences of the same and journey through joys and sorrows and go through births and deaths. That is the contention of Yudhisthira. In other words while dharma or laws, artha or money and karma or desire when in harmony could make this world a better place for living , Yudhisthira feels that despite all possible joys upon earth, man had better try to get rid of the birth and death and rebirth cycle of the existence.


Yudhisthira’s speech thus in a sense is revolutionary in the context of ideals of varnasrama and chaturvarga since Yudhisthira underlines the ideals of moksha, the fourth in sequence of chaturvarga as the all in all, be it whatever station and duties man is thrust into. Moksha means liberation. It implies liberation from the rewards of pious acts as well as from the retribution of unholy deeds. Liberation means liberation from heaven and hell. No. Heaven cannot be the object of a man’s journey. Since in Indian frame of reference no external heaven is assured unlike in the Bible. The Bhagavad Gita says-


Ksinepunyemarlyalokampunarvisati


Heaven is a place where one is rewarded for his pious acts. Once the reaping of the pious acts is over, one has to coe to earth. Once again to journey through its weal and woe.


Since moksha is all in all for Yudhisthira, he does not pin his faith on holy or unholy deeds. He speaks of the transvaluation of values. The Bhagavad Gita itself says


Traigunyavisayavedahnistraigunyabhabarjuna.


Further more the Gita says-


Apuryamanachalaprathistham


Samudramapahpravisantiyadavat


Tadavatkamayatpravisyantisarve


Sasantimapnotinakamakami.


In other words man should not act. He should know that he is always acted upon. Once he knows this he can do whatever he chooses, he will be in peace. No sin will touch him.


Such a contention is perfectly right for an individual seeker. One might womanize knowing fully well that he is not doing it. It his prakriti that does it. But from the point of view of a king such a ethics is not perhaps practicable.


Practically Yudhisthira seems to discard dharma whole-sale in a sense. The philosopher of the Mimamsa School Jaimini defines dharma as that of which the characteristic is injunction or vidhis. This means that dharma is an obligation decreed by the Vedas to perform karma or to act which brings of itself no reward. Only thing is that its non-performance would be that which is not dharma and enjoin upon the doer sin. Yudhisthira however does not pin his faith on ritual as such. If the doer is fully aware of the truth of existence, according to Yudhisthira, no matter whether he performs dharma or adharma, he will be touched by no sin, is never destroyed. So does Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita-


Yo mam pasyantisarvatram


Sarvanchamayipasyati


One who sees everything in God and God in everything never commits sin do whatever he wills. But the society as it is now cannot afford such truths. Socrates was given a fair trial and he was found guilty. Jesus was also given a fair trial in the light of his day and he was found guilty.


And is it surmising too far, that Yudhisthira could not therefore rule the kingdom of Hastinapur for long which he earned in lieu of great expense. He was too much engrossed with the desire for moksha to rule his newly earned kingdom.


The Sadja Gita is thus very significant an extract from the Mahabharata and in the context of the plot of the Mahabharata as well as in the context of its society and in the context of modern philosophy, sociology, ethics and economic thought.


R.C.M.

Economic Thoughts as revealed in a few sections of the Sabhaparva and Shantiparva

Chapter 5 of the Sabhaparva retrieves valuable exhortation of the wise saint Narada. He is giving his advice to the king Yudhisthira by asking varied questions regarding his duties as an administrator.


Narada asks Yudhisthira whether he properly and reasonably strikes the balance between the two basic human desires- the desire for wealth and the yearning for spiritual enlightenment. He stresses the importance of both of them.


He says “Oh King! I hope that you do not forget dharma being plunged in thoughts associated with money and artha. I hope that you are not too engrossed with the pleasures of the senses to remember that your mind must not be polluted with them. I hope that you are not too engrossed with dharma to deliberate on money and financial matters.


Narada reminds Yudhisthira about his eight different administrative duties like agriculture, trade, defence mechanism, infrastructure building, budget stabilization, supervision of public works in the city and so on.


He also inquires of the prosperity of the different types of subjects like landlords, the king’s ministers, friends, the king’s reserve, the state, fort and the soldiers and friends. Narada also enquires of the state of king’s reserve and the conditions of the forts and the economic condition of the soldiers.


Narada discusses various strategies to win a battle some of which can be compared to the effective business communication courses of today’s premier management institutions:


Kacchidvrittimudasinemadhyamechanumanyase


Kacchidatmasamavriddhahsuddhahsambodhanakshamah


Kuleenaschanuraktaschakritasteviramantrinah


Vijayomantramulo hi rajnobhabatibharata


Do you, Oh king, make any discrimination between those who choose to remain aloof and those who pay some attention to the state of affairs of the kingdom? People who are like you, people who have good manners, people who are adept in conversation and who come of a good family, who are loyal and who are mature should be appointed as ministers. Because good advice always helps on to be victorious.


Narada even stresses the need for the proper work-leisure balance as a winning strategy.


Kacchinnidravashamnaishikacchit kale vivuddhayase


Kacchicchapararatresuchintayasyarthamarthabit.


Oh king! Don’t you sleep when it is time to sleep and don’t you keep awake when it is time to keep awake? Don’t you ponder over the financial mattes when everyone else is gone to sleep?


When we study the labour supply curve in economics, we consider both the income earned by a worker by working more hours and his option of taking leisure in deriving the total expected utility of a labourer. He or she has maximum twenty four hours which s/he rationally tries to divide between work and leisure. An administrator should also take the necessary rest for the betterment of his performance but Narada pointed out that there should be specific times to work or leisure otherwise it will hamper the performance.


The Great Saint Narada enquires of the King’s relation with his farmer as it is crucial for any production. The importance of skill, the need for proper education in various services like defence and a need for well educated and well informed bureaucrats are some of the areas emphasized by Narada.


Narada stresses that a king should not exploit his subjects. In exchange of their different services, the king must give them proper honorarium and rewards. So the question of welfare comes first in the mind of Narada-


Oh king! Don’t you honour and reward those persons properly who accomplish the tasks given to them through sheer force of their own prowess? Don’t you give enough wealth to the skilled and the learned and to the accomplished persons who are sober?


“kacchitpurushakarenapurushah karma shobayan


Labhatemanamodhikambhuyovabhakttabetanam


Kacchidvidyavinitamshelanaranjnanavisharadan


Yatharhamgunataschaivadanenabhyupapadyase”


The advice of giving advance payment to soldiers during wartime can be compared to today’s different incentive scheme of the corporate world.


Normally, our views regarding the ‘king’ of our ancient times is that he/she is just an ideal consumer. But from the different enquiries of Saint Narada, we learn that an ideal king in the time of Mahabharata should maintain his expenditure by using one fourth or one third or half of his income and he should distribute the remaining among the old and the aged, distant relatives, teachers, traders, artisans, dependents, poor persons and orphans.


Narada advises Yudhisthira about keeping proper debit-credit balance sheet and proper accounting method for maintaining them. So accountants were there in the Mahabharata Society.


Are the accountants and clerks adept in calculating your income and expenditure beforehand?


Kacchicchayavyayeyuktahsarbeganakalesvakah


Anutistthantipurbanhenityamayamvyayamtava.


Narada enquires of the process giving the right job to the right person. We can compare it to some sort of today’s Public Service Commission or Employment Exchange.


Food is our basic necessity and naturally, agriculture was one of the main sectors in the Mahabharata times. The relationship between the amount of crop production and prosperity of farmer was assumed to be a positive one in the time of the Mahabharata.


Narada in details questions Yudhisthira- the king about his different welfare policies in this respect. He insists on the importance of irrigation so that agriculture be free from the whims of monsoon. He discusses the need for digging big canals. He enquires of the sufficiency of seeds and food in the farmer’s house. He also insists on giving them loans in the rate of four percent interest during needs.


I hope that agriculture is not dependent on rainfall. The farmers I presume are not short of seeds and food.


If necessary hundreds of them must be given loan at the rate of 4% interest


Kacchidrashtretadaganipurnani cha vrihanti cha


Bhagashovinivishtaninakrishirdevamatrika


Kacchinnabhaktambijam cha karshakasyavasidoti


Pratyekam cha shatambriddhayadadasyrinamanugraham


We are ashamed to say that even in this twenty first century India’s agriculture depends to a large extent on the vagaries of monsoon. The large dams and the barrages which were constructed in India during the first two decades of planning after independence are more of a curse to us now.


A common description about the Indian farmer is that An Indian farmer is born in debt, lives in debt and dies in debt. Actually if we discuss the nature and the problems of rural credit in India, we see that still now, Indian farmers specially the small farmers depend mostly on non- institutional loans (36%) which are difficult to repay and they use this loan mainly for non productive purposes as they are very poor. A very big income gap exists between the rich Indian farmer and the small and marginal farmers. Though institutionalization of credit is one of the major objectives of the Government of India, yet the plans are not fully successful despite the fact that co operative banks, regional rural banks, commercial banks are working in this respect. The apex institution which monitors this rural credit is National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) which is again monitored by the Reserve Bank of India. NABARD makes all the policies of giving loans to agriculture, agro industries, cottage and village industries, rural artisans, handicrafts. These loans are short, medium and long term loans and given through the state cooperative banks or any other financial organizations permitted by the RBI. It not only gives different types of loans but also looks after the different agro inventions and agricultural educational schemes i.e. stresses on the long run development of agriculture.


But the main problem of today’s Indian rural economy is the problem of agricultural labour, who have no land of their own and mainly are socially and economically of backward class. About seventy to seventy five percent of them are from the Scheduled class. Though the contribution of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product is reducing (from 59.2% in 1950-51 to 26% in 2000-01) , but the number of agricultural labour are increasing( from28% in 1951 to 40% in 1991). Actually 61% of villagers have practically no land or have land of lease than one hectare. They suffer from seasonal employment and lead a very miserable life. Main cause of their poverty is the different kinds of exploitation whereby they suffer. Besides their temporary unemployed status, debt trap, capital intensive farming methods, low rate of wage and absence of any unity among them are to blame.


Getting adequate agricultural loans from institutional sources and their repayment in time is still a dream for our farmers. Again the reduction of subsidies, the more and more dependence on costly hybrid seeds, extensive chemical fertilizers- the products of global market and unfair competition in the world market in the name of patent right are forcing our poor farmers continuously to the darkness of depressions and increasing the statistics of their suicide rate day by day. On one hand there are large disparities among the different states in our country. On the other hand there are large disparities between large land holders who enjoy all the powers and amenities and the suffering marginal farmers.


Though West Bengal is said to be among the fast moving states in agricultural growth , one wonders why after so much successful rural development policies , Kolkata still attracts the villagers even for cure of a simple health disorder- a basic need to be fulfilled in rural or in any urban area in a civilized society!


Narada discusses the different public administration works which maintain peace and stability in an economy, like strict vigilance on price index or special care of women etc. Thus we perceive that the security for women is a concern not only in today’s India but also in the cities of the Mahabharata.


Brahmanas were highly respected in the ancient times. Narada enquires how the king looks after their well being.


According to Narada, one should use his income for distribution and food consumption. Narada enquires of Yudhisthira about how the king treats different service sectors. He asks Yudhisthira if the duty collectors collect the necessary import duties properly from the foreigh traders who come for making profit. At the same time Narada warns the king about the methods of examining the quality of the importable goods. He advises the king so that he is sure that these goods have a wide market and have a standard quality.


Really, the Mahabharata is a true wealth gifted to us by our ancestors. The phrases like quality control or global market are nothing new. They remained even in the Mahabharata society.


Narada advises the ways to satisfy the Brahmins by hearing their noble speeches, by inviting them and giving them cows, flowers and fruits for spiritual purposes.


He advises of giving required inputs to different producers so that they can sustain different induction. He asks Yudhisthira if he properly rewards good deeds and good men and whether he is aware of his own skill.


According to Narada, a king should be properly educated one and should protect his country from disasters like fire, major enteric ailments etc. He should look after the disabled, the weak and be a father to a friendless person. He should abstain himself from vices like laziness, excessive sleep, fear, anger etc.


From this chapter 3 of the Sabhaparva , we get a very useful discussion betweent he wise saint Narada and the king Yudhisthira.


Narada very clearly stated what should constitute the duties of a king and how the king should maintain both his exchequer as well as give priority to the welfare criteria.


Any thought whether it is economic and political or psychological is based on the rules of the society from which they spring. All these thoughts arise from a common concern. They want to improve the conditions of humankind and our great epic Mahabharata is no exception.


In this twenty-first century’s global world, the main concern remains almost same though the views and their implementation processes may differ from one country to another and the success also varies accordingly.


Our hope is always for a better future when all such our sacred thoughts will be real. Perhaps!


In fact the economy of ancient Greece was determined by the small city states that peppered the Greek peninsula. One wonders whether the Mahabharata Chapter 86, Shantiparva throws some light on the principles of urbanization and public administration of similar states.


Yudhisthira asks whether a king should set up a city on his own or else whether he should put up in a city already established. Such a question is not irrelevant even today. The question as to where and how a capital should be built still haunts the public administrators in the world today . They have forged Chandigarh city anew that should function as the capital of Punjab as well as Haryana. Numerous instances could be cited on this count.


Be that as it may, Bhisma seemed to ignore as to whether a king should raise a city de neveau. He points out that the cities are business centres. Hence skilled men from different walk of life including the intellectuals as well as artisans throng there. Since cities are, in the opinion of Bhisma, sites where brave men live they are safe. And the king could put up in such a city. Inhabiting the city you must not however ignore the neighbouring villages. Bhisma, however, notes that the king should see to the procurement of wood, iron, hay, coal, oil, honey, drugs, cane, jute, leather etc. And no wonder all these materials should pour into the city from the adjourning villages. Hence the villages must not be ignored. But in our times as things are the cities often flourish at the cost of the villages.


In chapter 87, Yudhisthira wants to know the opinions of Bhisma about how to manage a large kingdom and at the same time how to collect the required tax for that purpose.


According to Bhisma, the core unit of production and the basic unit of administration is village and growth and expansion naturally starts from village. He discusses about the hierarchies in administration where specific persons are entrusted to look after one village or ten villages or hundred villages and so on. Again the administrator of the single village is bound to report the fault or shortcomings of his people to the administrator of the ten villages and he to the next higher rank and the process goes on. So, it is a unique combination of decentralized administration with a touch of central control. Today’s planning approach also stresses on this grass root development. But this decentralized planning approach is not yet successful.


Bhisma states that the villagers are the owners of the product they produce in their villages. Is it true in India today? Answer may not be in the affirmative.


Samvekshyatutatharajnapraneyahsatatamkarah


Naichhindyadatmanomulampareshamchapitrisnaya.


Bhisma, in detail discusses the taxation policy of the administrator. Taxes are collected for the defence purpose and the king should decide the rules of taxation after examining the traders’ selling-purchasing-growth-consumption strategy and the artisan’s production. Bhisma warned that the king should collect tax in such a way so that the work incentive is not adversely affected. The king should not collect a huge lump sum tax at a time. Otherwise the king’s popularity will wane and he will fall in the long run.


Our modern tax structure seems to follow the same principle. The main focus is on the ability to pay and the yardstick considered mainly is the income level. Those who earn more are able to pay more tax. The tax structure follows the progressive taxation principle i.e. the rate of tax will rise with the rise in income. But a steep tax progressive taxation has a tendency to decrease the work incentive and will increase the value of leisure. Economy may get a backward bending labour supply curve instead of its usual upward sloping curve which shows the positive relationship between wage and labour supply. So the economic rules of the modern times and that of the Mahabharata are rather comparable.


Again, even today, the popularity of a government depends to some extent on their tax policy. People with their fixed income decide their consumption saving pattern after the annual budget. The expansion of parallel economy- the increasing rate of growth of black money is the direct example which shows the fear of an elected government who cannot take any stringent step to curb the expansion of underground economy.


The main reason for taking tax in the period of the Mahabharata i.e. the main government expenditures are for defence and compensation to the employees. For defence purposes, the king can take wealth from his subjects in war times which he promises to return in the period of prosperity. This can be compared to today’s internal public debt mechanism where government can sell securities and bonds to public. Producers and traders in any society both in the Mahabharata or in modern society are the creators of wealth and main source of tax. Any adverse policy towards them will reduce the income generation of the country. So the administrator be it the king in the Mahabharata time or today’s democratic government both are careful in dealing with them. The administration should create proper infrastructure, give incentives for their encouragement and should collect limited tax from them. Bhisma says that it is one of the most important activities of the government.


Chapter 88 posits that public exchequer is of prime importance for proper administration, stability of the state government and the economic condition of a country. No wonder that when the gold reserve or the dollar reserve of a state wanes, there is always a lot of hue and cry because it indicates the deterioration of the country’s economy. This chapter therefore exhorts how the king should acquire wealth for his office.


The speaker here is Bhisma. He thoroughly discusses the ideal tax policy of the government. He suggests that tax structure should be progressive. He compares the method of tax collection with that of a bee who collects honey from the flower without harming it. So the imposition of the tax should not harm the people in any way, but will collect the maximum tax revenue for the government.


If we discuss the characteristics of present tax structure, we see that even now India’s tax system is regressive as there is more weightage on indirect tax system. Since India’s per capita income is considerably low and nearly thirty to thirty five percent people still live below the poverty line and there is a huge gap between rich and poor people due to massive concentration of income and wealth in a few hands. It is not possible for the government to collect a large amount of direct tax from the citizens.


In 2001-02, ratio of direct tax is 28:72 whereas in 1950-51, it was 36: 64. So the importance of the indirect tax (i.e. the tax on commodities and services- the burden of which can be shifted) is increasing in India. Three fourth of total tax revenue in India comes from indirect taxes. This additional burden is not shared uniformly by the society. This additional burden is not shared uniformly by the society. The top ten percent of the population shares the lightest burden. Though Indian tax structure possesses the characteristic of vertical equity (i.e. a person who earns more income pays more tax) but it lacks the feature of horizontal equity(i.e. equal treatment of equals) due to many types of perks and other advantages which may differentiate the burden of tax imposed upon two individuals.


To reduce the inconsistency of the tax system, value added tax is introduced which means taxing on the value added on each stage of production. Though this tax is comparatively more difficult to evade and helps to widen the tax base but it is also regressive like other Indian taxes and cannot be imposed in agricultural sectors or in case of small retail exchanges due to lack of proper accounting.


Capital plays a very important role in administration and capitalists occupy the most respectable position even in the times of the Mahabharata. Bhisma says that the rich people constitute the most important limb of the state and they must be deemed to be the noblest.


Dhaninah pujayenntayam panakchhadanabhojanaih


Vaktavyachanugrinhidvam prajah sadanna mayeti vai


And Bhisma warns that tax imposed on the traders should not be harsh and they should be allowed to purchase different commodities at affordable price.


Again in Chapter 131, Bhisma discusses what will be the Government’s policy during any emergency when scarcity of fund is a major problem in the economy. According to Bhisma, the king’s strength or his majestic power depends upon his wealth reserve. So, the yardstick which determines the strength of a country or a government is rather similar in the time of the Mahabharata and in the twenty first century where we separate the country according to their developed or underdeveloped status.


Mahabharata also states that-


Once the royal coffers wane the king’s prowess also wanes. The king must work hard to acquire wealth.


Abalasya kutah kosho hyakoshasya kuto balam


Abalasya kuto rajyamarajah srirbhavet kutah.


Again the Mahabharata says-


The rules to be observed in the normal times cannot be the same as the rules to be observed by a person who is in danger. True that one can achieve higher values through penance. But if there is no supply of money, life itself must be endangered. Hence it is not the duty of a king to follow rules that stand in the way of wealth and money.


Uchairvritteh sriyo haniryathaiva maraamtatha


Tasmat koshom balam mitramatha rajavikarthayet


Our very existence depends upon our ability to work, to earn. So, there should not be any conflict between religion and earning. A person can be a truly religious one if he follows the proper path of wealth creation. In the time of emergency, a Brahmin can do other jobs besides teaching or can eat food which are normally prohibited.


A Kshatriya’s main job is to earn wealth by winning the war. He can take other jobs besides his own in the times of difficulty. Thus the Mahabharata clearly states that the station and the duties are not absolute.


The king can exert his power to collect wealth from the rich in times of emergency. He must not be given up. The king is the sovereign. He protects his subjects. He can also decree death sentence on them. Hence in order to tide over difficulties the king is not prohibited from exacting money by force from the rich. In fact there is no possibility of earning unless some people are exploited. That is the way of the world. Such are the legitimations of the Mahabharata.


A strict administrative machinery is very much needed who can collect the needed tax revenue during the emergency or in peace time. But we are sorry to say that Indian tax machinery is still very much inefficient and according to economist Kaldor it suffers from definitional defects. This definitional defect and different types of bureaucratic restrictions, high rate of tax, loss of mortality etc results in the creation of huge unaccountable amount of black money.


Be that as it may, Mahabharata discusses in details about the tax policies- both during the period of prosperity or that of scarcity. A king can apply strict and stringent tax policy when he wants to increase the country’s reserves.


Bhisma discusses about the utility of wealth. He says that a rich person needs money for consuming different goods and he also needs money as a precautionary measure. Is it not the same as the classical quantity theory of money?


So, according to Bhisma, rational people will try to earn rationally. They should not adopt unfair means to do so.


In the chapters 133 and 14, Bhisma stresses the importance of a well maintained national reserve. According to him, an important duty of the king is to collect and accumulate wealth from his own country as well as from other countries.


Svarashtrat pararashtat kosham samjanayennripah


Koshaddhi dharmah kaunteya rajyamulam cha vardhate


From Bhisma’s discussions we can say that a country’s strength and volume of reserves are positively related. This is true not only in present times but also in the times of the Mahabharata.


But a king in the times of the Mahabharata or today’s government should not adopt unfair or coercive means to accumulate wealth. Collection of wealth from people by enforcing harsh measures will only make the king wealth less. And a good king always tries to protect the property and enhance the income of his subjects so that he can gradually collect more tax from them and govern the state peacefully.


From the speeches of Bhisma in the Shantiparva of the Mahabharata it is very clear that there was a very much well defined and clear role of Government in the ancient economy. For the well being of the population, for income and wealth generation, a strong government is very much in need. We can compare the economy of the Mahabharata to the Keyensian theory which also first states the need for a strong government. Adam Smith the founder of Classical economics in his Wealth of Nations discusses about the real wealth of a country- its production which can be obtained usefully and successfully by the labour power through the division of labour and the specialization process. According to the classical economist, since supply creates its own demand, a laissez faire economy is the most desirable.


By adopting the First Five Year Plan Programme the former USSR showed the whole world a new way of development planning. From 1930s, nearly the whole western world- from the former Soviet Russia to Sweden, Britain to America adopted the policy of government’s planning. Japan’s high rate capital formation also took place under strict government initiative and guideline. Keynes’ General Theory has a major role in the formation of development strategies under the government’s initiative in that period. The development theories of that time also echoes the same truth. India’s economic policy after independence also started following the same principle.


But the modern ideas of development proves that the increase in national income or per capita income the Kosh Briddhi of the Mahabharata cannot be the only indicator of development. The true development index should show how this national income is used purposefully in the society. An index which is useful for this purpose is called the Physical Quality of Life Index or PQLI. The factors which are considered here are life expectancy rate, infant mortality rate and the literacy rate. The countries which obtain higher rank in these entire combined indexes can be called truly developed ones. From 1990, UNO uses the concept of Human Development Index or HDI which is the combined measurement of the three basic indicators- life expectancy, level of literacy rate and standard of living. Their first two are social indicators. Life expectancy is related with health, nutrition, child death etc. Quality of literacy is connected with adult education, number of students enrolled in primary, secondary or in vocational courses. Standard of life is basically an economic indicator. It depends on the per capita income of the country.


When we read the chapter 124 of the Mahabharata, we see that Bhisma in detail discusses the need for wealth in broader sense of the term. According to him, a Kshatriya’s direct satisfaction comes from dharma- the moral rules and the artha and these two are interrelated. From the teachings of the Mahabharata, w learn that the four basic things which any person tries to achieve in a life time- the dharma, artha, kama and moksha are interrelated. Without the necessary wealthy, we cannot satisfy our different types of wants or without the necessary wealth power, we cannot achieve dharma- the moral rules of the society. Mahabharata tells us about ten different types of wealth which includes education, friendship, the social relation, skill, strength or good health , wealth etc.


So UNO’s concept of HDI are rather some modification of the concept of real standard of living definitions of the Mahabharata times. Bhisma specifically states that-


Bubhuseda valamevaitat sarve valavato vashe


Sriyo valam matyanscha valavaida vinati


Yo hyanayyah sa paritastaduchhistam


…………sarve valavatamsuchi


Is it not a tragedy that Bhisma’s statement truly fits this present world?


Atidharmad balam manje valad dharmah pravartati


Apadhvasto hyevamato dukhah jivati jivitam


Bhisma also warns that the distribution of wealth is necessary before consuming i.e., there should be no great disparity in the level of consumption. One should not consume all and deprive others.


Again, we are returning to the present. Though the role of the state was very important in the last century, but now in the whole world, new economic reforms mainly give stress on the role of competition and the free economy. Economist Pranab Bardhan and John Romer stated by analyzing China’s development strategy during the period 1978-92 that competitive markets are necessary to achieve an efficient and vigorous economy, but that full scale private ownership is not necessary for the successful operation of competition and markets. Among the new structural reforms of the Indian economy from 1991, the main policies are to curtail the role of the government sector, closing the sick units, industrial; deregulation, trade liberalization etc.


The tragedy is that we try to follow the development path of the western world but the concept of development may vary. The ability to get satisfaction or to be free from any insecurity is what any person wants to achieve. In the Mahabharata, a truly happy person has been defined as one who can eat minimum food daily and has no loans. But today, we judge an economy by its transaction mechanism. The use of plastic money the credit card is an apparent boon to urban population which minimizes the necessity of carrying cash. But this rampant usage of credit for all our necessities even for meeting our bias needs aggravate the role of insecurity, fear and depression in our lives. Is it actually a notion of true development?


In the Mahabharata, Bhisma discusses broadky the moral ways of acquiring wealth by the king. According to him, a king should not take wealth from Brahmins or priests. He should take wealth from exploiters- the parasites of the society. One characteristic of Bhisma’s narrative is that none of his lectures are his own ideas. He is telling the views of the then ancient wise men. So, by reading only a chapter of the Mahabharata, we are not only getting a view of the society prevalent at the time but also of more ancient societies which do not have any written well preserved record as such. Those ancient teachers said that the Kshatriya- the warrior class will only consume the wealth. Wealth should be used for increasing strength. Power, intellect and for performing religious duties. Wealth is useless if it does not satisfy all the persons’ needs. So, a king should take an exploiter’s wealth who does not help others. The king will give it away to the needy people. We can compare it with the present day tax-subsidy policies of any government with certain modifications.


We can quote the necessary lines from Chapter 136 of the Shantiparva here Bhisma says to Yudhisthira-Oh, Dharmaraja! The scholars steeped in ancient lore narrate according to the rules laid down by Brahma as to how a king should accumulate wealth. It is not the duty of a king to accept money from those who are plunged into contemplation of Brahmin or the Infinitude and from those who are always engaged in sacrificial rites. He will only rob the wealth of the dacoits who do not take part in any economic activity as such. Those who do not try to satisfy the gods, the fathers and the human kinds have money that is of no use. One who extracts from the dishonest and gives it away to the pious and the honest is surely a paragon of virtue.


Atra gatha brahmgitah kirtayanti puravidah


Yena margena raja vaikosam samjanayatyuta


Na dhanam yajnasilan harye devasvamevacha


Dasyunam niskriyanan cha ksatriyo hartumarhati.


Chapter 147 discusses the concept of joy and sorrow. Bhisma precisely states that joy is the cause of sorrow- the two are interrelated. The main cause of sorrow is not getting satisfaction by ac1quiring property. According to the ancient wise men, joy and sorrow flow in a cycle. Nothing is permanent. Bhisma narrates that laziness is the main cause of sorrow. One can remain happy by working and by gaining skill. Wealth and education prefer an enterprising person. A lazy person cannot achieve them. Today’s business cycle theory- the stages of recession, depression, recovery and prosperity also views the same idea and we know a basic factor of production is an able entrepreneurship without which an economy cannot sustain any production. And since theses periods all all temporary, a person should accept all these phases wisely and calmly.


We can quote the lines from the Mahabharata -


Sorrow appears as a result of happiness only. Indolence is the chief cause of sorrow. Happiness comes only through the attainment of skill. Wealth and education take refuge in a man who has acquired skill. A lazy person can never get at these two things. Happiness or sorrow, anything after liking or not, come what may, the wise will accept with calm of mind.


Sukham dukhantamaqlasyam duhkham dakhsyam sukhodayam


Bhutisvevam sriya sardham vasati nalase


Sukham va yadi va duhkham priyam va yadi vapriyam


Praptam praptamupasita hridayenaparajitah.


From the above lines, we can see a unique relationship between the practical no non sense subject called economics and the rich Indian philosophy. The same cycle of depression and prosperity which a beginner learns when studying economics is actually what the wise philosophers of our great epic Mahabharata tells us many years ago.


From the Mahabharata again, we ultimately learn that a truly happy person is one who has no quest for property. Demand can be never ending, fulfillment of one creates a fresh demand and the process goes on. Actually, the teachings of the Mahabharata are also normative and utopian in nature. Bhisma guides Yudhisthira by narrating different views of ancient wise men about what should be the ideal role of a public administrator, what are the concepts of actual wealth, what should be the proper taxation policy of the government, how wealth should be ideally distributed and his wise views on joys and sorrows. According to him, a person can achieve eternal joy when he frees himself from all earthly desires. The Mahabharata tells us- Hence Oh you greedy men! Give up hope and take refuge in renunciation. Take refuge in peace. You have amassed wealth over and over again. Still you could not keep them. Despite that it is a pity that your thirst for wealth does not wane.


On the other hand, if we consider his word dhanasa not in philosophical terms but just by its literary sense– the savings, these lines have similarly with the present paradox of thrift hypothesis which explains that how sometimes an increase in the desire to save leads an economy to settle at lesser income and sometimes even reduce their actual savings.


Be that as it may, Bhisma’s guidelines are basically of normative nature and probably they are not followed properly even in the societies of the Mahabharata e.g. one of the main causes of the great war in Kurukshetra is for the ownership of property.


But one of the main valuable findings from our scattered readings of Shantiparva is the importance of public finance and that of a string government whose power and duties are broadly discussed here. Though when reading economics as a subject , we go through various economic laws and hypothesis, we know that no law is universally true. Each economy has its own laws and for the smooth growth of an economy, public sector has an important role. It should not act as a barrier to the competitive efficiency of this twenty first century which marks the end of smoke stack production and the beginning of an information based technological revolution. We hope that it will be effective in implementing the different policies which can reduce different disparities and will create a brave new post capitalist world.