Acharya Mahaprajna
Gandhiji started the swadeshi (national self-reliance) movement. Today, after the entry of multi-national companies, some of the political parties are talking about swadeshi. The concept of swadeshi was embedded in the code of conduct and the vows of ethical conduct given by Mahavira.
One of the vows is digvrat, setting the constraints or limits.
Those living in Delhi, for example, will put the constraint like this: I will not use anything from outside Delhi. If l wear clothes, those will be made in Delhi. The food grains that l eat will be the food grains produced within the limits of Delhi only. This is digvrat that is the main basis of swadeshi. Mahatma Gandhi was promoting the principle of non-violence under the aegis of Shrimad Rajchandra. Gandhiji was under his influence. It was natural for Gandhiji to follow the principles of Mahavira.
It can be easily maintained that decentralized economic policy, decentralized industry and swadeshi, all the three emerged out of the code of conduct of Mahavira.
