CONSUMERISM IS DEVOURING

Modern man is fascinated by consumerism.
He consumes  through his active senses:
Smells through his nostrils-
Hears  through his ears-
Touches through his sense of skin-
Sees through his eyes-
and of course the king of all consumption.... is food that he consumes through his mouth.
It is the age of variety, from food to foot wear--- man has choices by the millions.
After the Rajasuya Sacrifice, Duryodhana on seeing the prosperity of the Pandavas was dumbfounded stunned and stupefied. He described the prosperity and the opulence of the Pandavas to Dhritrashtra. Dhritharasthra who was himself tormented on being blind, tried to vainly tell him not to be disturbed.  Duryodhana said to his father “no one can grow if he is content.The only way to grow in life is to always be unfulfilled. Satisfaction is the enemy of growth.”
He was completely consumed by consumerism .
He wanted everything that others had. He was being devoured by his  desires which remained unfulfilled. These insatiable wants disturbed devoured and ultimately devastated him.

Some statistics say --if China and India follow the American way of consumerism, the earth planet would need  to grow 4 to 5 times more resources to accommodate the new life style of  consumerism.
Wants are unlimited but resoureces  to fulfill these wants are not only limited but are also depleting with rapid force.
What is the solution to this?
Our wants will not be fulfilled.
This is not the curse of a raging sage- but  the reality of a ravaged mother earth. Mother earth is reacting, she cannot handle the burden of  our wants, although  she can easily handle our needs for a responsible existence.

Therefore Dharma reminds us to be dharma sensitive,  use what you need, and deny  the wants of a turbulent mind.
When we lead a responsible life respecting mother earth  we can deal with the challenges of existence.

The Pandavas followed this principle and were prosperous.They fought for their rights and needs. Duryodhana on the other hand  died because he went way beyond  his needs and fought the war to fulfill his wants rather than his needs which in turn  caused great destruction on the battle field of Kurusketra .
Duryodhana’s wants devoured him--- and Yudhisthira’s needs directed him to follow the Dharma of a kshatriya and fight the war under the guidance of Krishna the lord of Dharma.

Our path is wide open either we can be devoured by our wants or be devoted to our needs and responsibilities. One path can  burden the earth whilst the  other can uplift all ---including mother earth.