In Giving, There is Freedom
H H Maa Purnananda
Founder Chairperson
Sree Guru Swami Chinmayananda Sewa Nidhi ®
Let the wealth earned be used for worthy cause, let it not be wasted in worthless passions – is the call of the scriptures. According to Adi Shankaracharya in His popular and melodious poem ‘Bhaja Govindam’, wealth is calamitous ‘Artham Anartham’. He points out that one should always have this in mind that money or wealth is only a means and not at all an end in itself. Therefore, the wealth earned by righteous means; having it in sufficient measure for proper utilization and employed liberally for the purpose of service, is worth earning. When you possess money it is a blessing, when money possesses
you, it is a curse. He warns us that wealth estranges us to all, not even barring our own kith & kin. To the rich, there is fear from his own son. It causes estranged relationships, hatred and innumerable subhuman impulses in the people obsessed by money.
In the world where wealth has become the measuring rod of success, when you become little successful, you grow jealous of others having more, when you have not, you will pant hard to get it by hook or by crook. Either you will feel conceited to no limits among those who have less or your jealousy becomes intense towards those who have more. In short, money rules the foolish man making him a slave to it. This is the delusive power of wealth that influences the man to the extent that he never gives wealth its right and appropriate value.
The Acharya advises the seekers of the noble life of virtues and values to constantly remember the ephemeral nature of money. By repeatedly remembering the dangers of running after wealth, for it is impermanent and calamitous, the delusory enchantment for money as such, will slowly disappear form one’s mind. Realization of the truth about the ephemerality of wealth will make a person give up his craving bonds.
Should it mean that we should throw it away even when it is earned, or that we should not earn at all or that we should not provide for our own livelihood? Far from such misunderstanding, what do the scriptures urge and what is implied therein is that it should be spent for the benefit of the society, the welfare of the needy and for the positive development in the world. So long as a person apportions his earnings for such noble causes, it will continue to flow, the moment he stops giving, wealth may also cease to be in his hands. Even when it gets accumulated and is held in tight fists, it is likely to get devalued.
Therefore it is wise to remember that charity should be extended to the deserving before one’s life comes to an end. Man is not sure of even the next moment, so why cling on to the ghost called money? Liberate yourself form the clutches of this ghost, by giving. In giving, there is freedom. Give, give, give you must – ‘Datavyam iti’.