Bhaktachintamani Prakaran 107

Now I tell of the vow of freedom from greed, by which the sants remain resplendent. Just as they have no attachment to woman, so too have they renounced attachment to wealth.

Such an assembly of sants gathers, and the munirajas speak among themselves: whoever has attained King PurushottamPurushottamGod. Supreme being. Bhagvãn. He is unparalleled, omnipotent and the all-doer, omniscient, omnipresent, the ocean of all forms of bliss, does not have any attributes of Mãyã, divine, always taking birth on earth forTap to open in glossary → is said to have every desire fulfilled. Such a person's mind never feels want; he has obtained an inexhaustible great wealth. No cheat can cheat it away, no thief can steal it; spend it or use it as one will, it never runs out. Having obtained such great wealth, why would he run after this base, metal wealth, in which so many evils dwell? Even if one renounces and hoards it carefully, this wealth still corrupts what is good.

Boundless theft, violence, and falsehood; the storehouse of lust, anger and pride; arrogance, discord, enmity and vice; envy and rivalry -- wherever wealth is, these are there. Drinking of wine, consorting with women, gambling, and loss of trust -- all these gather together wherever wealth collects, the way water-creatures gather in water.

Wealth causes the vilest sins; wealth causes enmity and wicked deeds. Wealth causes deceit and treachery; wealth causes countless quarrels. Wealth causes betrayal and wickedness; wealth causes lustful, murderous acts. Wealth causes high and low distinctions; wealth causes hypocrisy and trickery. Wealth causes pollution of caste; wealth turns truth into falsehood and false accusation into fact. Wealth causes ruin upon ruin; wealth makes men miserly and wretched. Wealth causes theft and servitude; wealth causes harsh toil. Wealth causes the killing of living beings; wealth causes the very body to fall.

Wealth causes both justice and injustice; wealth fills false accounts and makes them pass as true. Wealth causes bribes to be taken; wealth causes cries of anguish among the poor. Wealth makes a chaste woman abandon her truth; wealth makes an ascetic break his vow. Wealth spoils a sage's silence; wealth makes an ascetic fall from his austerities. For the sake of wealth men wander the earth; for the sake of wealth they fight and die. For the sake of wealth they sell their own bodies; they give up their very lives but will not give up wealth. For the sake of wealth they climb aboard ships; for the sake of wealth they climb mountains and fall. For the sake of wealth they plot many a murder -- great evil is done because of wealth.

Wealth makes men stray from dharmadharma1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion,Tap to open in glossary →; wealth makes the base act out their own base nature. Whatever souls go to hell, wealth is the root cause of it. Lust, anger and delusion are said to arise from joy, grief and greed. Pride, envy, and possessive attachment -- know that greed is the cause of them all. Whatever various afflictions a soul suffers, they are exactly as great as his greed. Greed severs affection with the sants; greed forges love with the wicked. Greed makes one do improper deeds; greed makes one's very life unlawful. Whatever goes wrong in the world, all of it is said to be because of wealth.

Because of wealth a son kills his father; because of wealth a disciple destroys his guruguruA teacher. He will guide you on the path of kalyãn.Tap to open in glossary →. Because of wealth the five great sins occur; because of wealth a manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → himself becomes ungrateful. There is no sin in this world that does not occur when wealth is obtained. Wealth makes the wise abandon their wisdom; wealth makes the meditator abandon meditation. Wealth makes the honored abandon their honor; wealth makes a manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → shamelessly commit vile acts in the end. However many are named, there is no end to how many evils occur because of wealth.

Those who are caught up in such greed are swept away, filled to the brim with craving. For them to be saved is a distant hope indeed -- knowing this, a servant of God should stay far from it. By greed gods and demons fight; by greed the daityas and bhutas suffer. Yakshas and rakshasas are all afflicted by greed -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. Greed caused strife within a family; it was greed that caused the rift between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Fighting among themselves, they lost their lives -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. By greed kings fight over land; by greed a satisatiA widow who, out of her total dedication and commitment to her husband, voluntary kills herself by throwing herself on her dead husband’s burning funeral pyre.Tap to open in glossary → burns herself alongside her husband. Greed causes loss of life itself -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing.

The wise, the clever, the learned, the holy men -- greed has made them all restless. Poets and scholars too are bought and sold by it -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. In heaven, on earth, and in the netherworld -- greed has ensnared people everywhere. Such is the vast net it has spread -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. Greed has given men a twisted understanding; it has made falsehood seem like truth. ManManMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → does not even recognize this about it -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. Greed has thrown the noose of Yama around men's necks; greed has made them wander through the eighty-four lakh forms of life. Greed turns the wheel through all four types of birth -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing.

Know, all people, that greed is the very cause of birth and death. It ought to be renounced with great effort -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. Those whom greed has taken captive, it has made destitute and wretched. They have suffered great bodily affliction -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing. Understanding this, the sants recognized wealth as worthless and renounced it entirely, casting off its pull from body and mind -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would still desire it. Jewels, diamonds, pearls, coral, and other beautiful gemstones -- these too are only Yama's snare grown stronger -- only an ignorant manmanMind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.Tap to open in glossary → would desire such a thing.

Food, water, and clothing -- it is by these that this body is sustained; but the givers of these are the Imperishable Lord himself. So do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. To eat food is only to remove hunger; to drink water is only to sustain the breath of life. To remain free from craving any other thing -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. To ward off cold and heat from the body, HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary →'s devotees keep only clothing on their body; whatever they happen to obtain, that they keep with them -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. Beyond this, all else is renounced; detachment goes hand in hand with sense-pleasure. They never desire anything, knowing it to be worthless -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it.

They find no happiness in gold or silver, those to whom the great Lord himself has come near; they see even Brahma down to the smallest worm as perishable -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. They have understood that happiness lies in HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → alone, and everything else, they have realized, is suffering, like the very noose of Death's own messengers -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. To those who have obtained this great and mighty wealth, everything else has come to seem worthless. Knowing it as sin, they do not thirst for it -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. A snake, a scorpion, burning poison, or a crow feeding on filth -- what good is in any of these? Knowing this, they renounce the hope of worldly happiness -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. What object is there in this world for which one greedy for God should feel greed? They remain inwardly detached from everything -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it.

Thus have men become free of greed; no pleasure disturbs their minds. They have taken up residence in the abode of Brahman -- so do the servants of HariHariAn avatãr of Bhagvãn. He incarnated in His four-armed svarup to save an elephant from being killed by a crocodile. He cut off the crocodile’s head with His chakra.Tap to open in glossary → understand it. This is one way by which greed is conquered; there is another, higher means as well: when inward aversion arises, then greed is uprooted entirely, at its very root.

Thus, having conquered greed and craving, and having formed love for PurushottamPurushottamGod. Supreme being. Bhagvãn. He is unparalleled, omnipotent and the all-doer, omniscient, omnipresent, the ocean of all forms of bliss, does not have any attributes of Mãyã, divine, always taking birth on earth forTap to open in glossary →, neither lust nor greed can overpower them -- through the grace of Swami Sahajanand.

Thus, having become free of desire and free of greed, they worship the Lord; those very same renunciants are also free from craving for taste -- the sants who have no taste for sense-pleasure. Knowing every true pleasure to reside in the Dark Lord alone, they know all other pleasures to be transient. I shall now tell the way of such sants, indifferent to taste -- listen, all of you.

Thus, in the Bhaktachintamani composed by Nishkulanand MuniMuniSãdhu.Tap to open in glossary →, disciple of Shri Sahajanand Swami, propagator of the glorious Ekantik DharmaDharma1) Universal law or principle that 'sustains' or 'upholds' the entire world. Righteousness, morality, religion,Tap to open in glossary →, the chapter named "The Vow of Freedom from Greed," the one hundred and seventh chapter, is concluded.