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Non-possessiveness and charity
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of your wealth you wish towards charity. Whatever remains will become government property and will be put to good use."
All those who were gathered around him encouraged him to follow the advice of the good Tahsildar. They said to him lovingly, "Brother! Since you have no inheritors and your end is near, don't lose this golden opportunity to do some good.”
But this only aggravated him. He questioned with irritation, "Why do you want to kill me before my time? What if I do survive? What will I eat then?"
The people exclaimed, "Oh! What have you eaten so far? All you have done is accumulate money. You have hardly ever eaten a complete meal!"
When the Tahsildar tried to place a rupee in his hand to motivate him, he simply pocketed it. Some days later when he died, his wealth was made government property. Of what use was all his accumulation?
Some people alienate themselves from society and nation and stay isolated. And some are worse than that. They remain aloof even from their own selves, not even bothering to fulfil their bodily needs. Great thinkers propound that even if the boundary of desires is not set, one must give away all extra possessions as charity. They believe that to earn all the wealth in the world and give it away as charity is a meritorious deed.
But Lord Mahāvīra had a much larger vision. According to him, such a vision of charity is not a sublime one. To accumulate on one hand and then give back on the other can only fan the ego, nothing else. In other words, to first take from people and then return it back to them, is not to give of oneself. And furthermore, the ratio between what is taken and what is given is always an unfair one. This does not qualify as charity.
Jainism has placed great emphasis on charity, but the primary emphasis is on non-possessiveness. Charity is to wash away the grime that has stuck to the feet, but non-possessiveness is not to allow the grime to stick to the feet at all. 1 prakşālanāddhi pañkasya dūrādasparśanas varam
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