________________
nature. Such a person forgets himself and chases with full energy acquisition of other things first, then hoarding and protecting them. In such a case, the individual obsessed with attachment to possessions completely forgets his own inherent nature and hence enhances pain to everyone.
Jainism talks of two types of possessions namely
Internal: or the tainted state of soul i.e. attachment (greed and deceitfulness) and aversion (anger and arrogance) termed as psychical.
External: like physical body, family and friends, moveable and immoveable property, food grains, servants and even social status.
Such an individual, infatuated with attachment, transfers the basis of his happiness to other objects. He is always possessed of a feeling of owning (mine) and acquiring more to fan his greed for possessions. So, he is always engrossed with tainted emotions like anger, pride, deceit and greed, attachment and aversion as they all have their roots in external objects or possessions. Therefore, one is advised to develop a disinterest for these possessions. It depicts the essence of the vow i.e. the limitation of desire themselves and not merely of possessions.; "Possession and the desire to possess' are inter-related and that is why for a householder a prescription for the limitation of his worldly possession is made which restrict the number of possessions needed for his own (including his immediate family) maintenance, and for serving the society. Consequently he controls his limitless desires to acquire and possess more and more. 24 Desires are endless like the sky and they can never be satisfied for any person fully125. The more you get, the more you want, desires increases with every gain. The more you get, the more you want, desires increases with every gain. Attitude of possessiveness/greed also gives rise to the feeling of
Pg. 170 Gandhi & Jainism
