Wealth

Yudishthira was very sad after he won the Great War, because he had killed all his kinsmen.

He was lamenting and telling his brothers that the Kingly duty of ruling the subjects doesn’t appeal him. He will go to the forests and spend his days as a recluse on penance to extirpate his sins.

To him Arjuna said, ‘Brother, if you had wanted to do penance you need not have started the war. We could have all lived in the forests and wiled our time away and let our enemies to enjoy our entire Kingdom.

After winning this war with a superhuman effort now you are lamenting like this.

You say what are the use of the Kingdom and the riches of the Kingship since you have lost all your kinsmen in the war.

For a person of this nature what is the use of Kingdom and all the riches who will be satisfied to be a mendicant?

The Vedas declare that the riches obtained from one’s enemy after winning a war belongs to the winner.

If you go to the woods and practice penance abdicating your Kingly duties then dishonest men will rob the innocent civilians and cause chaos in the society. That sin will pollute you.

Many people including royal Nahusha when afflicted with poverty have done many wicked acts and repented for it later in their life. King Nahusha lamented about the state of poverty that he was in.

The recluses make no provision for the future. However the Kings duties are to make provision for the future as the religion of royalty depends on the wealth.

When one man robs another man he robs him of his religion also because deprived of his wealth he will not be in a position to follow virtue and will sink down.

Do not applaud the state of poverty as it breeds sinfulness. There is no difference between a fallen man and a poor man because; because of his poverty he falls again and again. It will be difficult to lift him up.

Wealth gives us opportunity to practice virtue and religion and also obtains heaven for ourselves in the Earth.

A man of little intelligence who loses his wealth is said to live a wretched existence.

He that has wealth has got friends, relatives and he is regarded as the true man in this world.

A poor man though he is virtuous is not respected in the society.

Wealth begets wealth. A wealthy man entering in any enterprise meets with success whereas a poor man doesn’t meet with success.

Religious acts, pleasure, joy, courage, learning and dignity etc. all spring from wealth.

A man who does not have wealth doesn’t have this world or the next.

A person who is lean in his wealth is indeed a lean person and not the one who is lean in his physique.

Therefore you also adore wealth and practice all the religious acts ruling your Kingdom.

To this the Rishi Devasthana would add the following words:

‘Four modes of life viz. Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa are ordained one after the other. You pass on these stages one after the other.

Even the Rishis are ever engaged in action represented by their performing sacrifices.

Some say that he who does not seek wealth is superior. I would say that they would be incurring more sin if they follow this precept because to live in this world one needs wealth.

Beware of this. He who gives away wealth to undeserving person acquires the sin of killing a child in the womb.

The God created men and also He created the wealth. He kept the wealth in the custody of the man ordaining him to utilize the same for sacrifices.

Even the Lord of the Gods’ Indra had obtained to his position by making many sacrifices.

To him the Bhima would add these words:

The learned of the scriptures that all that we see is the food for the strong. This world of mobile and immobile is the object of enjoyment of the strong man. The wise men say that those who obstruct the way of the King should be slain by the King and the King doesn’t incur sin by taking this route to success.

Therefore you have only followed the duty of the King and no blame attaches you. The life of the recluse is only for the one who is not able to support anybody in life.

A person’s success in this world depends on his own exertion. If you believe in this then take up the Kingship and rule the world because he that is withdrawn from action never attains to success. Therefore everyone who wishes success should strive to his best.

You have vanquished all your enemies and acquired this vast land. Rule this land be a just King.