pursuit of wealth

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaktas,

 

A question has been on my mind lately:

to what degree is the pursuit of wealth

compatible with the principles of our

religion?

 

A simple, knee-jerk answer would be that

wealth should be pursued to the extent that

one needs it to sustain oneself and one's

family. We are repeatedly taught that materialism

leads only to misery and nothing higher. It seems,

however, that this is is too simplistic an answer

to a complex question.

 

Our ideals are people such Nammalvar, Desika,

and other early acharyas, who completely eschewed

building their personal fortunes in favor of

spiritual pursuits. There are many other

real-world examples, even outside our sampradAya,

such as Sankaracharya.

 

However, today, we are faced with situations where

it seems as if a significant amount of wealth is

needed to care for oneself and one's family. Health

care is expensive, college is expensive, food is

expensive, travel to India is expensive, books are

expensive -- where does it end?

 

Modern day scholars such as Uttamur Viraraghavachariar

and Kanchi P.B. Annangarachariar dedicated their life

to traditional learning, so it seems that such a detached

life is possible. But is it really? Both of these

scholars depended on very wealthy disciples and sponsors

to continue their pursuits. Clearly, someone here is

building wealth, and such wealth is "useful".

 

I find it hard to pursue wealth, even a little bit, and

at the same time concentrate on detaching myself from

material desires. From all sides, we are encouraged

to pursue money. It's not just the West that encourages

this, but countless "traditional" forces in India as

well. The poor man is rarely respected as much as the

rich man, even among hyper-religious circles. Grandparents,

parents, and friends, Indian or otherwise, counsel us

to make lots of money to live a so-called "comfortable"

life. Famous swamis such as the Ahobila and Vaanamaamalai

jeeyars are heavily dependent on rich disciples for their

activities.

 

Here's the bottom line question: is a detached, unmaterialistic

life religiously necessary? Is it possible? If so, how does one

go about it? To what extent should one pursue wealth, if one

is truly desirous of liberation?

 

I invite thoughtful responses from all members, including

those outside the sampradAya.

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Dear Sri Mani,

 

Have you read my mind? How is that so nicely reflecting what has

been going on in my mind!

 

Money- It is also called Lakshmi.. No doubt, Swami Desikan, Sri Ramanuja et

al, didn't care a damn about the pursuit of wealth. Their pursuit was ONLY

ONE. We wish to have the cake and eat it too.

 

Do we think that Swami Desikan would have been admired by his in-laws

for his turning down of VidyaraNyar's offer?

(I frankly don't think so.) People have been just the same, since the

beginning. Only AcAhrays had the VairAgyam to stay away.

 

Brahmins had to go only for Bikshai. (incl Gruhasthas). Even if they get

more than a day's quota of rice, they offer to others (athithees). Next

day,they start from zero again. Swami did not bother how to settle his son

Nainacharyar..or worry as to who will look after his wife after his death,

or to save for his retirement period.

 

But, we are not like that., as nicely put forth by you. I liked the way you

said, that the AchAryas (prakritham AchAryas) too need money for their

functioning / works for our upliftment and for future generations.

 

BUT, you know, Mani, Sri Ahobila Mutt, I read somewhere, had donated

money (about 2 lakhs?) when Andhra pradesh was badly hit by floods;

His Holiness did not check if the victim was a muslim, or a hindu.. a male

or a female, a brahmin or a non- brahmin. He immeditaley GAVE.

That brought tears in my eyes. That's the attitude of a Srivaishnava.

(Sri Ramanuja says: If someone sees the suffering of others, and feels

"aiyO!" that is the quality of Srivaishnavan.)

 

We are running amuck after material pursuits.. for retirement, for

next generation, for family, for education of children, etc.. etc.. BUT,

Mani, Can we not allocate about 5 % of monthly salary towards any of

kaimkaryams?

When we wish to allocate, all other expenses come to our mind.. (I am just

thinking loud...). If only we allocate that and positively donate, to

AchAryAs and their works, I guess Sri Venkat's BEAUTIFUL Tamil poem will be

taken care of.

 

IF we decide and convince ourselves that we are earning only for donating 5

percent of (or ten percent of) our income towards temples and/or AchAryAs,

and also continuously contribute... I think, it is not such an evil to earn

and seek wealth. Let us make a small beginning and increase the percentage

contribution

for such kaimkaryams.(Kooratthaazhwaan was quite wealthy; He let everything

and joined Ramanuja.. He dinot bother as to how his two sons will stelle

themselves in life.. In fact, when his wife cmae to him and reminded him of

their sons' marriageable ages, he said "go and tell that to Varadhan. It is

His duty..- I wish we had got such an attitude.)

 

My two cents worth.

 

Regards

 

Narayana Narayana

 

Narayana dAsan

 

 

____

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Mani and all other esteemed bhAgawatAs,

 

Mani's question is very thought provoking and extremely relevant in our

context. I guess I have thought about this for sometime now. I can

only speak for myself but the conclusion I have come to is that

(unfortunately) only a two-pronged approach works (for me): pursue both

material and spiritual goals.

 

There have been thoughts racing in my mind sometimes that I should just

give up materialistic pursuits and just settle down in Kanchipuram or

Srirangam and learn our SiddhAntam in a way I can follow it. But very

soon, my mind starts thinking of other things sometimes totally at odds

with the previous thought -- "Chanchalam hi manah krishna" as Arjuna

laments about the flirtatious mind.

 

I think we should go back to what Geetacharya says, and ruminate on it

to find a solution to our dilemma. Disclaimer: My interpretation is

far from being erudite ... but it may be sufficient for our purposes.

Sri Krishna advised Arjuna to do what is intrinsically natural for

human beings to do to attain Atma saakshaatkaara :- Action. Hence, do

Karma yoga. But do it with Atma Jn~ana. Note that the context there

was that Arjuna felt Jn~ana yoga was superior.

 

Permit my novice attempt at extrapolating the meaning and even the

context of that advice for our purposes. In our case, we are torn

between materialistic and spiritual ways of life. I personally feel

(again I speak for myself) that material pursuit (to a limited extent)

is of utmost importance even for our own basic needs. Just as action

is natural to a baddha jeeva, so is his need for material wealth. So,

as starters let's just not give up our materialistic pursuits if we are

not ready to do so. Just alter it to have a spiritual purpose. Let us

not just dive into a mendicant way of life, because we might not be

ready for it. Besides, even bhagawad rAmAnuja in his geeta bhAsya

says: "nyAyArjita dhanena mahA yajn~Adigam krtvA ... sareera dhAraNam

kAryam." which approximately means: "Earn in righteous ways and use the

earnings to do the 5 mahA yajn~as, and sustain your body by living on

the remains of the offerings given during these yajn~as." My point

here is that even rAmAnuja points out that material is necessary for

sareera dhAraNam.

 

So, this would be my way of looking at Mani's problem. Determine your

material requirement that will maximize your spiritual goals. We must

most certainly be able to find an optimum. I am sure that most of us

cannot be spiritually optimal if we are starving for 2 days (in my case

a few hours). And neither are we spiritually optimal on the other side

of the spectrum, i.e., if we are too indulgent in material things. So,

focus on what amount of material life gives you the maximum spiritual

output. This reminds me of a short story my AchArya Srimad VedAnta

RamAnuja mahA desikan (thirukkuDantai Andavan) has written (may be in a

different context) in his commentary on the Geeta Bhasya.

 

A person going to the temple meets two people on the street. One is a

rich businessman and the other an extremely poor beggar. He asks the

businessman: "Do you go to the temple?" To this he answers: "To the

temple? No. I work throughout the day, and I have to do the accounts

in the evening, and by the time I am done, the day is over, and since I

work seven days a week, I have no time for anything else." When asked

the same question, the mendicant answers: "Where is the time to go the

temple, if you have a wife and four kids to feed? All I can do is beg

for alms, and hunger doesn't take a vacation."

 

So, the moral of the story is this: Let us not put ourselves in either

of these positions. I think the most important thing to do is to

concentrate on the spiritual pursuit and adjust your material conquests

accordingly, so that gradually, we hope, the spiritual pursuit becomes

stronger and the material needs weaker.

 

|| sarvam sree krishnArpaNam ||

- aDiyEn,

muraLi kadAmbi

 

 

--- Mani Varadarajan <mani wrote:

>

> Dear Bhaktas,

>

> A question has been on my mind lately:

> to what degree is the pursuit of wealth

> compatible with the principles of our

> religion?

>

> A simple, knee-jerk answer would be that

> wealth should be pursued to the extent that

> one needs it to sustain oneself and one's

> family. We are repeatedly taught that materialism

> leads only to misery and nothing higher. It seems,

> however, that this is is too simplistic an answer

> to a complex question.

>

> Our ideals are people such Nammalvar, Desika,

> and other early acharyas, who completely eschewed

> building their personal fortunes in favor of

> spiritual pursuits. There are many other

> real-world examples, even outside our sampradAya,

> such as Sankaracharya.

>

> However, today, we are faced with situations where

> it seems as if a significant amount of wealth is

> needed to care for oneself and one's family. Health

> care is expensive, college is expensive, food is

> expensive, travel to India is expensive, books are

> expensive -- where does it end?

>

> Modern day scholars such as Uttamur

> Viraraghavachariar

> and Kanchi P.B. Annangarachariar dedicated their

> life

> to traditional learning, so it seems that such a

> detached

> life is possible. But is it really? Both of these

> scholars depended on very wealthy disciples and

> sponsors

> to continue their pursuits. Clearly, someone here is

> building wealth, and such wealth is "useful".

>

> I find it hard to pursue wealth, even a little bit,

> and

> at the same time concentrate on detaching myself

> from

> material desires. From all sides, we are encouraged

> to pursue money. It's not just the West that

> encourages

> this, but countless "traditional" forces in India as

> well. The poor man is rarely respected as much as

> the

> rich man, even among hyper-religious circles.

> Grandparents,

> parents, and friends, Indian or otherwise, counsel

> us

> to make lots of money to live a so-called

> "comfortable"

> life. Famous swamis such as the Ahobila and

> Vaanamaamalai

> jeeyars are heavily dependent on rich disciples for

> their

> activities.

>

> Here's the bottom line question: is a detached,

> unmaterialistic

> life religiously necessary? Is it possible? If so,

> how does one

> go about it? To what extent should one pursue

> wealth, if one

> is truly desirous of liberation?

>

> I invite thoughtful responses from all members,

> including

> those outside the sampradAya.

>

> Mani

>

 

_______

 

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First Union Capital Markets Corp.

 

Dear Members,

 

This is one subject that I am sure all us - regardless of our social,

economic, national and religious background, ponder about many a times at

different points in our daily grind. It had and it does happen to me and

as we see the responses coming in, we will be assured we aren't alone. Most

often we convince and justify ourselves to carry on but only to revisit, at

the slightest rub to our emotions.

 

That perhaps is an indication that indeed this (our decision to continue the

pursuit) may not be the right choice. Then again, do we really have an

alternative? And as Sri. Mani rightly asked, should we seek one at all ? And

as Sri. Venkat and Sri. Madhavakannan pointed out, can we make amends to

make this a more "worthy" pursuit. Just about like any other subject, we all

have our own unique opinions, so here is mine. And I am sure, we all know

this ! So what's new and why should I post it ? Well.. Sri. Mani's query

has given me a sense of courage to express my thoughts in the forum and

thereby give myself a chance to refine them.

 

My take is, the answer lies in our belief that we need His grace for

everything. Now, this is not just an oversimplification for justifying the

pursuit. A much closer introspection is necessary. To come out of this never

ending cycle of material pursuit, we have to do our part and leave the

remaining to His will, with a strong faith, nay, conviction, that He will

rescue us.

 

Be it through our scriptures, or in front of our very eyes, we have heard

and seen Sriman Narayana giving a chance to each one of us, in this very

life, to escape from this samsara "jvAlA-valee". More than the opportunity,

the intuition to recognize and seize it, is what that makes the difference.

And all of us will not get that "vairagyam", but just that "qualified" few

at the right time.

 

And who gets this ? Only those that spend their time thinking about Him,

doing kaimkaryams.

And how we do this ? By placing ourselves strategically so that we get to do

that as often as we can, thus increasing our chances of gaining the

anugraham of the divine couple.

 

Would that mean we quit our jobs, and go seek refuge in the sanctum

sanctorum of our temples? Yes. But what about our home...... Well, then that

means we haven't got our chance yet.. so keep aspiring for that day when we

can say, "Okay. This is it.. I am ready for You!"

 

I just happened to read Sri. Murali Kadambi's posting, telling the above in

a much better way with quotes from Gita. I am still learning, so mine is

more of a lay-man's style as opposed to a learned Sri Vaishnava....

 

May be we all have a consensus here, as to which is the best approach.

Perhaps this gives that little sense of temporary relief and justification

to carry on our pursuit for some more time.........

 

Adiyen

Sriram Ranganathan