Greed brings misery
Contentment is the most precious wealth – Greed brings misery in return
Story 1: A street-hawker had on his head a basket full of empty bottles, as he walked along to the bazaar. He hoped to sell the lot at a profit of 10 rupees and, in 10 days, he calculated his earnings would have accumulated to 100 rupees. With that as capital, he panned to switch on to more profitable deals, so that he imagined he could make a pile of a lakh of rupees in a few months and build bungalow with a lovely garden tended by a regiment of servants… There, he saw himself on a sofa in the greenery playing with his grandchildren. He was engrossed in that charming scene, suddenly he saw among his grandchildren, the children of one of the servants; he got angry at this unwanted intrusion. Believing his antasy to be a reality, he suddenly grabbed the child and gave it a swift hefty push, only to find that the basket of bottles had fallen on the road and all hopes of even the 10 rupees lost! That was the end of a dream built on the slender basis of greed.
Story 2: A farmer (who already had 100 acres of land in south India) yearned to take up more land for cultivation, and he went the river Tungabhadra area and the Nagarjuna Sagar area in search of land for cultivation. Finding that the price of land there was very high, he went to Northern India. He learnt that in a Himalayan state, good land was cheap and easily available. So, he proceeded thither. The King promised to give him all the land that he could walk around from sunrise to sunset on a single day. So, in his uncontrollable greed, he rose with the sun and without wasting a minute for breakfast, he walked fast-indeed, he ran very fast in order to cover as much land as he could. He never took a second’s rest; he was happy that he could get a pretty vast area free; when the sun was about to set, he was within a few paces of the point from where he had started. He was too exhausted to take even the few steps he needed; he fell down on the ground he coveted so much and breathed his last. His heart could not stand the strain of running so fast, so long, with such hurry, and tension. At last, he got only 6 feet of ground for his grave. Greed spelt his doom.
Story 3: The Mahabharat epic depicts the disaster that greed can bring about. Duryodhana was so greedy that he was not willing to allow even those who had the legal right, to own the possessions that he had grasped… He was so greedy that he refused to yield even a pinpoint of land to his five Pandava cousins, though they had a rightful claim for a vast and flourishing area. Naturally, his greed destroyed him and his clan and subjects.
Learning Points:
Man loses his human quality because of greed and selfishness. Man must learn to be content with what he has and what he gets and look upon whatever he receives as a gift from God. When he is satisfied with what he has, he can be happy. When he desires for more, he gets discontented and miserable Whenever any worldly desires arise in the mind, treat them as garbage that should be thrown only. By this means, you will enter on the path of purity. Then the Divine will welcome you and fill you with bliss. By chanting the Lords’ name, desires can be reduced, while legitimate wishes get fulfilled.
References:
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 5, Ch. 49
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 6, Ch. 22 & Ch. 40
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 20, Ch. 4 & Ch. 5
- Handbook for Ideal Sai Human Life, p. 367
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 29, Ch. 38
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 28, Ch. 2
[Adapted from ‘Divine inspiration volume 1 – pg 119’]