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spiritualist, as well as Jainas, it is a means for welfare of human society and not for one's own enjoyment.
The accumulation of wealth in itself is not an evil but it is the attachment towards its hording and lust for its enjoyment which makes it an evil. If we want to save the humanity from classconflicts, we will have to accept self-imposed limitation on our possessions and modes of consumption. That is why Bhagwan Mahāvīra has propounded the vow of complete non-possession for monks and nuns and vow of limitation of possession for laities. Secondly, to have a check on our luxurious life and modes of consumption he prescribed the vow of limitation in consumption. The property and wealth should be used for the welfare of humanity and to serve the needy, so he prescribed the vow of charity. In Jainism the vow of charity is named as Atithi Samvibhaga. It shows that charity is not an obligation towards the monks and weaker sections of society but through charity we give them what is their right. In Jainism it is the pious duty of a house-holder to fix a limit to his possessions as well as for his consumption and to use his extra money for the service of mankind. It is through the observation of these vows that we can restore peace and harmony in human society and eradicate economic inequality and class conflicts.
CONFLICTS IN IDEOLOGIES AND FAITHS
Jainism holds that reality is complex. It can be looked at and understood from various view-points or angles, for example, we can have hundreds of photographs of tree from different angles, though all of them give a true picture of it from a certain angle yet they differ from each other. Not only this, but neither each of them, nor the whole of them can give us a complete picture of that tree. They individually as well as jointly will give only a partial picture
261 Jainism and its History
