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That is even if an infinite number of gold and silver mountains, each as large as the Kailasa, are conjured up, they would not lead to the final extinction of human desires, because desires are infinite like space. Not only Jainism but all spiritual traditions unanimously hold that the root cause of sorrow is attachment, lust or a sense of mine-ness. The fulfillment of desires is not the means of ending them. Though a materialistic perspective can bring material prosperity, it cannot make us free from attachments and yearnings. Our materialistic outlook can be compared to our attempt of chopping the branches off while watering the roots of a tree. In the above mentioned Gatha, it is clearly pointed out that desires are endless just as space (Ākāsa) and it is very difficult to fulfill all of them. If mankind is to be freed from selfishness, violence, exploitation, corruption and affliction stemming from them, it is necessary to outgrow materialistic outlook and to develop an attitude, which may be described as spiritual.
The word Adhyatma, the Samskrta equivalent of spirituality derived from Adhi+Atma, implies the superiority and sublimity of Ātman, the soul force. In the oldest Jaina text Acārānga, the word Ajjhatthavisohi, connotes, inner purity of the self, which is the ultimate goal of Jaina-Sadhana. According to Jainism, the realization of physical amenities or creature comforts is not the ultimate aim of life. There are some higher ideals of life which are over and above the mere biological and economic needs of life. Spirituality consists in realising these higher values of life.
Jaina spirituality teaches us that happiness or unhappiness is centred in the soul and not in worldly objects. Pleasure and pain are self-created. They are subjective in nature also. They do not depend totally on the objects, but depend also on the attitude of a person towards them. The Uttaradhyayana-Sūtra (20.37) mentions:
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