#108

Advancement of material civilization is a great stumbling block for spiritual advancement. Such material advancement entangles the living being in the bondage of a material body followed by all sorts of material miseries. Such material advancement is called anartha, or things not wanted.
People are suffering because of ignorance and are following a wrong path for happiness. This is called anartha. These material activities will never make them happy.
In the beginning of life nobody smokes or nobody becomes intoxicated. It is learned by bad association. Similarly, it can be given up by good association. They are called anarthas. Anartha means unwanted bad habits. So when we are children, innocent, we have no bad habits, but as we grow and associate with bad company, we also acquire all these bad habits.
I have accepted this body and identify with it, therefore I have created so many anartha. I am entangled in bodily relationships and so many possessions, I am absorbed in thought, that "I am, I belong to such and such nation.