Wealth, even an immense fortune, dwindles with constant use. It is similar to collyrium. On the other hand, even a modest fortune grows, if added constantly. It is similar to an anthill. It follows from the above that, even the immense wealth should be made to grow. Whatever remains unearned must be earned. What is earned must be safe-guarded. And what is safe-guarded must be increased through good investments.
Wealth guarded in the customary way of the world, that is, hoarded, can disappear in a flash. Life is full of dangers. Further, wealth hoarded is as good as wealth not possessed. So, wealth gained, should be safe-guarded, increased and made use of.
Let the wealth you earn circulate
And you kept it still.
Water in a full tank, lacking an outlet
Spills over and goes to waste.
Wealth lures wealth, as tame elephants the wild; wealth cannot be increased by wishful thinking, there can be no trade without wealth. The man, who lets the wealth that fortune showers sit idle, finds no happiness in the world, or in the next. What is he then? A confounded fool performing a watchman’s role.
When a man is penniless, his kinsmen find no time to give him the time of day. His pride takes a beating. His moon of God conduct vanishes, without any trace. In cold indifference his friends turn away. Misfortunes swell & grow further. Soon, other people’s misdeeds are imputed on this penniless man!
Oppressed by waning fortunes that are struck down by the cruel time, this penniless man sees his friends’ become foes. The long standing affection turned cold. Soon, there will be no one towards who he can look up for help.
Empty is a childless home
Empty the heart that lacks a true friend
Empty the horizons to a fool
All, all is empty to a penniless man.
Senses unimpaired, speech the very same
mind still keen; he answers to his name;
the very same man, yes and yet
in a trice, he has become another
How strange!
Is it because he & his wealth are now separated?
Shadows of passing clouds,
Friendship of rogues
New grain, young women
Youth and riches
Oh! How fleeting the enjoyment of these!
Obtained by a hundred painful efforts,
Even dearer than one’s own life,
Riches have but one right way to follow;
Any other is the wrong course.
He who does not enjoy his wealth
Or gives it away is not its true owner;
The jewel in your home, your daughter
Waits for another; for she is his.
The miser who hoards his riches for others,
Some gather honey with great effort
For others to taste with delight.
Day by day the wisdom even of the wise
Wanes chipped away by constant household worries
As the beauty of the season of dew pales
Touched by the breath of spring’s warming breezes.
Deprived of wealth and power; preoccupied
With nagging problems of procuring
The family’s wherewithal for mere existence
Butter & Oil; grain & salt, fuel & clothing
Even the minds of men with sweeping intellect
Reaching for horizons, start to decay.
Like bubbles on flowing waters
Ever forming, ever dissolving,
Men down & out and weak from lack of fortune
Become insignificant, beneath notice.
Even if they are one’s neighbors.
Having said the above, wealth is also criticized severely by few learned people. They said:
A trouble to acquire; a trouble to protect
a trouble if it is lost; a trouble if it is spent.
Money is nothing but trouble.
Alas! From beginning to end.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
