Ahimsa 8 - Aparigraha Or Non-Possessiveness Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

A greedy man can never practise ‘Ahimsa',
For, the greed leads to many ‘Himsas'!
Grief, pain, injury,
Physically, mentally, emotionally,
Hurting others in order to gain or grab!

The root of greed is strong,
Unless one plucks out the root,
Right from its deepest level,
From its innermost strand,
It could surf again!

Greed is like a termite - it eats into you,
Destroying every semblance of a virtue!
Once addicted, it becomes stubborn,
Grows deeper and deeper,
Until you are drowned in the whirlpool of greed!

‘Aparigraha' means Non-Possessiveness -
To refrain from the tendency to hoard,
To terminate the four vicious habits;
The palate greed, the carnal greed,
The money greed and the power greed!

The four together make a perfect square,
Each line pursuing an act,
So despicable and loathsome,
Bumping into each other at every corner,
And finally, falling into a terrible pit!