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emaciated as a result of the shocks of war and cold war, and the competition in weapons and missiles. He has no alternative but to purify the internal self. If there is no change in it, complete dissolution of the world is not far off. This movement prescribes that man should have faith not in weapons but in non-violence. Instead of giving primacy to worldly progress he should awaken his spiritual consciousness."5 "The economists say that its (society's) main problem is greater productivity. Superficially viewed, the problem seems to have been solved to a certain extent. But I do not think that it can be solved as long as we are overgreedy. Its unexceptionable solution is self-control. A devoted life imparts peace to us and also at the same time offers us a solution to economic problems."
In regard to non-possession: the traditional emphasis on it was a result of regarding it as promoting the conditions under which attachment and all the attendant evils are cast off. The modern movement does not overlook the evil influence of non-soul (ajiva) on the soul (jiva) in the absence of purity of character in the realm of possession even. Non-possession is considered to be a "form of non-violence which has no expectation of objects from others." Hence the vow is considered to effect limitation of one's desires. The Acarya emphatically points out: "Social regulations can be an effective check on possessions, but not on human desires. This vrata means the control of possessions, through the control of desires."s
It is evident then that the Anuvrata movement emphasizes the twin-principles of non-violence and non-possession as basic to reorienting the other values and to reconstructing society. Emphasizing the need for self-analysis and self-purification even in the modern world, the Acarya writes: "It is true that man's external powers have increased manifold, but it is no less true that internal strength has considerably reduced. As the inner states of mind grow vicious, situations get complicated. The root of diseases lies in the deterioration in the qualities of the inner self. Man has been dazzled by external glitter. He has not been able to find an answer
5 Ibid., p. 27
6 Ibid., p. 29
7 Ibid., p. 21 8 Ibid.
THE ANUVRATA MOVEMENT
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