Saintly Association Eliminates Lure of Money
Saints, having attained omnipotence, have tremendous power of all kinds; for instance, whatever they say will come out true. This is called wachasiddhi, and we, too, may acquire it. To make use of it, however, will be foolish, like serving God for a meagre mundane remuneration. Imagine a person owning the wish-granting cow (kamadhenu) exchanging her for a pony because he would not load the divine cow! Where is the sense in propitiating the Almighty for the sake of paltry, transitory things? Even the hard-earned heaven and its pleasures are not permanent; then why strive for them at all?
Just see how much attachment a man feels for even a lifeless thing like money! It is like the ghost in the fable which agreed to slave for a man on condition that it be kept constantly employed, but if given respite it would devour him. Similarly, money can be very usefully employed; but if not, it becomes a crushing, consuming burden. There is basically nothing wrong in saving money; but it should not be taken as our mainstay, for that would make us lose sight of God, who is our real sheetanchor. I do not suggest that we should give away all we have; but if, say, there is a theft or robbery or other loss of money, we should not shed tears over it, nor should we turn away a needy person; we should not hesitate to help him to whatever extent we can.
It is true that we must save sufficient money for a rainy day; but how much is 'sufficient'? We cannot name a definite sum in this respect. If one has a pension sufficient for the needs of the family, that could be termed 'enough'. For a non-pensioner, there should be enough to enable the family to live decently for about a score of years. One does not need very much money to be 'rich'; if we have enough money to fulfil our needs, are we not rich? Of course, we should spare no effort to earn money by moral means; but beyond that, we should let things take their own course.
Our true welfare lies in keeping company with the saintly. Association with them generates lofty thoughts and noble feelings. To live among persons of high thinking and in constant awareness of God is to be in good company.
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