Greed to wealth: A curse to human life
That alone is true wealth,
which is conducive to your highest interest, which may prove to be the means of
God – realization, the ultimate and supreme consummation of human existence.
That which is subservient, on the other hand, to mundane life, worldly
enjoyments, is useless (vyarth) ; while that which begets sin is, of course, a
positive evil (anarth).
Wealth which is neither
earned through pious means pleasing to God nor is employed in the service of
God is positively useless and an unmixed evil. That is why it has been spoken
of as an evil misnamed as wealth (Artha).
By its very nature wealth is
a fertile soil for the following fifteen evils: (1)
Thieving, (2) Violence, (3) Mendacity, (4) Hypocrisy, (5) Vanity, (6) Sexual
appetite, (7) Anger, (8) Pride, (9) Discord, (10) Animosity, (11) Rivalry, (12)
Lewdness, (13) Distrust, (14) Gambling and (15) Drinking. The means of securing this evil misnamed wealth, its
acquisition, augmentation, preservation, consumption and loss invariably entail
utmost exertion, fear anxiety, delusion and grief.
Craze for this wealth sows
seeds of dissension and animosity with one’s parents; brothers, relations and
friends (whose life should always be steeped in mutual love), alienates them
from one another. As a result of this people bound by ties of affinity from
time immemorial get agitated and enraged and, forgetting all goodwill, kinship
and affection, turn enemies of each other, flying at each other’s throat.
Quarreling and litigating
with one another and seething with terrible unrest, losing all peace in life
from greed of wealth, people depart from this world proving human life to be a
curse.
Blinded with thirst for
wealth alone people court the sin of taking the life of innocent human beings
by adulterating foodstuffs, medicines and other things essential in life and
causing imitations to pass off as genuine, and thereby pave the way for hell.
Not even an iota of the
worldly riches and property follows you beyond death. Burning uselessly in the
fire of solicitude for wealth all his life man turns to be an embodiment of
evil. Therefore giving up the avidity for wealth, devotee whatever wealth has
fallen to your lot in the service of God in various ways, thus making it
helpful in achieving your highest interest. And if you have no money, feel the
direct touch of Divine Grace and, remaining contended with the means of your
livelihood, devotee your life to the service of God.
If you happen to possess
abundant riches and regarding it as your own, fail to employ them in the
service of God—wherever they are needed, you are a thief and you will have to
reap the evil consequence of this dishonesty of yours.
You perpetrate a major sin if through greed,
through imagined need for more wealth you earn or amass wealth by usurping or
encroaching upon others’ rights, persecuting the poor and the helpless. Such
wealth is a positive evil. It will keep you burning even in this world, even
though under the intoxication of pride you may not feel it for a few days;
whereas you needs must reap its dire consequences in the world beyond.
Therefore, taking care not to fall a prey to greed, make the best use of the
wealth already in your possession. Even keep aloof from the means of unlawfully
acquiring what has not been acquired.
- Greed to wealth
- A curse to human life
- Greed a curse to human being