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Non-possessiveness - a universal framework
and emperors into Jaina religion and asked them to vow not to collect unnecessary weapons. Excessive resources makes a person arrogant and he gains a tendency to fight for every small position of power. Thus the Jaina seers attempted to eradicate the primary reasons for violence from the roots. They never supported wars.
Nowadays there are many religious leaders who have become puppets in the hands of powerful leaders. They claim that heaven is the abode for those brave people who will die in battle. They teach that a king or a political leader is God and therefore one must submit everything before him. But the Jaina Tīrthankaras have been steadfast in this regard. The Praśnavyākaraņa sūtra and the Bhagavati sūtra explain a lot along the same lines. If you look into these scriptures, you will find a lot of literature that defies battle. You are aware that Kūņika, the king of Magadha was such an ardent devotee of Lord Mahāvīra. The scriptures have exalted his devotion. Yet, Lord Mahāvīra did not support the battles initiated by Künika, rather, he announced that Kūnika would go to hell for his misdeeds. Even though Kūņika was angry with him, Mahāvīra remained steadfast in propounding non-violence. How could the incarnation of non-violence and peace support human annihilation? He taught that as long as an aspirant stays content within his limits, there is no conflict. Peace is destroyed when man enforces his power outside his territory onto the possessions of others. Yes, until the river flows within its bounds, the world only benefits from it. It causes no harm. But as soon as it gushes beyond its banks, it takes the form of floods and causes havoc and destruction. Same is the state of man. To be obsessed with possessions, not to enjoy them nor let others enjoy them is a sign of delusion, of attachment. It is the root cause of this worldly sojourn, of slowing the journey to the abode of liberation.
Joy does not reside in external objects, but in man's thoughts. Is the soul bound by the body or is the body bound by the soul? The materialist will say, “The body is everything." But the spiritualist says, "The soul is the master. This body is just a medium of existence for the all-pervading soul.” As Jainism declares:
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