(The following are the points covered in the video of Dr Harsh Satya talking about how the paramparik samaaj in India was expenditure-centred. The video is linked below.)
Harsh’s teacher at IIIT Hyderabad, Navjyothi Singh, had a sudden insight that the experiences that Guruji Ravindra Sharmaji used to relate were all about a Vyay-pradhaan samaaj. An expenditure-centred samaaj. (As opposed to modern society which is Aay-pradhaan or income-centred)
Harsh shared this with Guruji Ravindra Sharma and he liked this formulation and incorporated it into his talks.
Harsh once told Nagarajji, the saint-propounder of Madhyasth Darshan, that Bharatiya gram vyavastha was Vyay-pradhaan and not Aay-pradhaan. Nangarajji asked, son how can we have Vyay without Aay? Harsh had no answer. Then after a pause Nagarajji shared the insight that in a Vyay-pradhaan vyavastha man will not do sangrah (accumulation or hoarding). Nagarajji told Harsh to do more research in this direction.
Harsh realized later that actually man’s Aay comes from Prakriti’s Vyay. Like the fruits, flowers, leaves of the trees are its Vyay and this becomes man’s Aay. Or the earth’s minerals that are on its surface are its Vyay and they become man’s Aay. Farming is also a good example – A farmer’s Aay is coming from the earth’s Vyay plus the effort put in by the farmer.
So, with this background, it looks like Guruji Ravindra Sharma’s conception that in the samaaj if everyone is doing their Vyay according to their responsibility, it ensures the Aay of everyone, appears correct. Or, Vyay is the cause of the Aay. In this, Vyay meant all our giving including our action in the world.
In the paramparik samaaj it was understood that my Aay was because of someone else’s Vyay and this brought in an element of gratitude. In modern society an individual thinks his Aay is a result of his skills and effort.
When Sri Ram gives his khadau (wooden slippers) to Bharat, he also tells Bharat that it does not matter who sits on the throne, but the Purohit being taken care of would ensure a well run samaaj. This matches with observations by many Indian and English writers that the Indian samaaj was largely unaffected by who the current ruler was. The breaking of the institution of the Purohit probably was a major factor in the decline of the Bharatiya samaaj.
For a Vyay-pradhaan vyavastha it is important that the people are not unhappy letting go of things. And it is probably the primary responsibility of the Purohit to use various rituals to develop this maanas of letting go in the people of the samaaj. For example, in our festivals we create something beautiful, a rangoli, a statue of Ganesh etc. and then we immerse the statue and let go of this beauty without sadness.
The full video is linked below: