Present day society has become highly materialistic! People have become worshippers of Mammon, the God of wealth! The lure for wealth has become irresistible. Man is ready to go to any extent for the sake of money! Looting, murder, fraud and various heinous crimes are done just for the sake of money and wealth! None is spared whether he is a father, brother, or mother and sister! What is this obsession for money? Why do people live and die for money? From the days of the Ramayana the importance of money has been recognized! Lakshmana tells SrI Rama that one should definitely earn money in his life for there is no difference between a dead person and the poor man! Poet Bhartruhari echoes the the same thought that there are people in society who are mad after wealth irrespective of its consequences!
“Let caste and community be dumped into the nether world! Let courage and bravery be buried in earth! Let character be destroyed and lost! Let the dynasty go into flames! We are least worried at the loss of these ideal qualities! Our only desire is to accumulate wealth! That is the be all and end all of many in this world! We reject all other desirable qualities of character and run after money because without money all these qualities are worthless as a blade of grass!” so says the poet describing the nature of people whose thirst for money is unsatiated! Without these sterling qualities of character what can anyone do? It is a pertinent question one can ask.
Though one does not have character, scholarship, erudition, beauty and eloquence, if only he is rich, he is considered as one endowed with all ideal qualities! How can such a person be called great? It is because all the ideal qualities are based on one’s possession of immense wealth!! A millionaire or a crorepati is considered as the possessor of all the good and ideal qualities! A bad minister spoils the king. Association undoes a yogi. Indulgence destroys the son. The brahmin spoils himself without the study of the Vedas. The race or community suffers through
the conduct of the son. Bad company dents one’s character. Drinking removes modesty and loss of supervision costs the crop. Foreign travel costs attachment to family and children while absence of love spoils friendship. Immorality destroys wealth and charity impoverishes man according to the poet Bhartruhari!
According to sastra wealth or riches has four heirs who can share it. They are Dharma, Agni or fire, the king and the thief! If the eldest,Dharma is humiliated the other three become angry! The best and the noblest use for money is charity! Money spent in personal enjoyment and luxury is the next best. The worst loss of money is when it is robbed by thieves and others! Bhartruhari
points out that the rich should be benefactors and charitable! Is the person who becomes poor. through giving his wealth away for charity looked down upon? No says the poet. He shines bright like the polished diamond and the wounded warrior on the battlefield! The crescent that is lean, the damsel enjoying conjugal bliss, the rich who have become poor by giving away their money, have their radiance and glory despite their loss!! In other words they are adorable. through their respective losses!
The mind of the rich is vacillating! By chance, if he becomes poor, he is ready to accept anything and consider it as the greatest gift of God! But when he grows rich again he becomes arrogant and does not care for anybody. His pride makes him consider things according to his convenience.Recent demonetization has revealed how people have hoarded unaccounted money and how they wanted to save that money by hook or crook! Many Banks and their staff were involved in illegal exchange of the demonetized notes for the new denomination currency! We know that money is absolutely needed for existence. But too much of money po problem to man! It is enough if we possess the money required for our day to day comfortable and happy life! But human desires are countless and limitless and they are responsible for the misery of man!
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