Wealth falls into three categories , (Artha) is wealth earned piously, spent on your needs and in the service of society. The second category is ( Vyartha) that which is wasted away. In this category fall needless acquisition of property, money, cars and jewellery etc. It also means any form of gambling, drinking, immoral and unethical sex appetite and to feed pride. The third category is called (Anartha), this is that wealth which is gotten by evil means and spent for evil ways, so this begets positively evil results. This includes wealth used for thieving, murder, lascivious activity, discord ,rivalry and that which brings harm to others and oneself.
Loving relationships fall apart as wealth creates chasms of distrust between brothers, parents and children, also between friends. Money is happiness , is the biggest fallacy. Acquiring money, storing it, , spending money as well as losing money or saving it from snatchers, are they not all painful? Yet, Hinduism is the only religion in the world that has a goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. She is worshipped because she is a generator and a bestower of wealth. Kuber is the Treasurer of wealth, so he is always represented as an ugly figure with a bulging stomach showing greed and hoarding and never worshipped. Arjun was decorated with the title of ‘Dhananjaya’, the one who generates wealth for the wellbeing of society. Greed is one of the basest of human values that seethes with discord and terrible loss of peace. Happy contentment is the only antidote.
Generation of wealth is not greed.Hinduism has always venerated wealth and the wealthy who serve mankind, but denigrated greed that is definitively evil. Givers are honoured as ‘Daanveer’ . It is believed that when you readily and smilingly , stretching your capacity, give to the deserving with respect, and with humility in your heart that the giver is the Lord ,not you, then you are called a ‘Daanveer’ a heroic giver.
Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission New Delhi, can be contacted at prarthnasaran@gmail.com
Email: prarthnasaran@ gmail.com