________________
shorter and shorter. To the extent selfishness is confined, humanity remains out of that confinement and absence of humanity is the presence of animality.
The primary means for the satiety of luxurious tendency is possession-both in its material sense as well as in the mental sense.
The Effect of Possessiveness in Life:
In the material sense, possessiveness means wealth and property. Decidedly the worldly life cannot be maintained in want of money. The basic necessities of life-food, clothes and shelter, can be sustained on money only. Therefore this truth shall have to be admitted that money not only exercises an immeasurable influence on temporal life but it is indispensable for it.
Indispensable means it is not possible to maintain the embodied life without money, hence one factor becomes clear that ordinarily one cannot do away with this indispensable thing. No philosophy has ignored its importance. Knowledge has been diffused on this subject with this angle of vision that one should conduct himself keeping in view the evils entailed in riches. Cultivation of good qualities of contentment, service and co-operation has been recommended on this very basis that the use of wealth may be made within limits and misuse may not be allowed to flourish. The thinkers had realised the terible consequences of the lust of wealth, hence they codified the rules to exercise maximum control on it. Amassment of wealth is not possible by moral pursuit. More wealth means more injustice and it means more harassment, For this reason accumulation of more wealth for an individual means more hardships to
Jain Education International
13
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
