Monks and nuns have renounced all possessions. Whatever things they use for the sustenance of their body and for the performance of religious activities in the strict accordance of the monastic rules are not owned by them, nor do they have any attachment for them. For householders this vow means limiting their desire of possessing, and hence actual possessing. The following are the seven supporting vows householders are required to observe. The vow checks the unimpeded spread of desire and activity.
Householders use eatables, water, clothes, etc.
This vow means to limit the quantity of eatables, water, clothes etc. that the householders use. This refrains one from keeping things more in quantity than necessarily required. The observance of this vow puts restraint on the free play of desire and discourages hoarding. Giving evil advice, offering means of destroying life, aimlessly digging ground or striking a standing animal with a stick, yielding to unwholesome contemplation, etc. are instances of purposeless, harmful activities. They should be assiduously avoided.