Nothing is immortal in this world, whosoever has come must go one day. As after day comes the night and the day comes again, the cycle goes on unchanged. Change, in fact, is the law of nature. Nothing is permanent. Often I have heard people saying that they are passing away the time but, in reality time is passing by them and they are merely silent spectators. Not a single moment passes without change – construction or destruction. The wheel of nature moves on uninterruptedly. At one single moment there is a sunrise in one place and sunset at another. Birth of a new human body also mars the end of a worn out body. Generations come and go but the human race lives on.
In Bhagwad Gita Lord Krishna says, “All material things are mortal and therefore liable for destruction. Only soul is immortal.” According to Indian philosophy also a person can attain salvation through Yoga and meditation. This is the stage when the soul joins the Supreme Soul and experiences eternal bliss. (P a r m – A n a n d). Unfortunately very few people strive to reach that stage. The majority is running after wealth without bothering that material gains are only temporary and will bring him grief one day when he will loose these acquisitions. I really feel pity for such people and pray that they become wise and don’t waste their time for temporary gains.
There are examples in history when the high and mighty, like Duryodhan and Ravan, also perished inspite of the fact that they had possessed enormous wealth and power but even that couldn’t save them from doom. It is therefore proved beyond doubt that money or material possessions have no permanent bearing.
Often I have heard people saying that life is nothing without money. That is not true. I do realise the value of money but it is not the ultimate goal of life and happiness. With money, no doubt, we are able to fulfill our obligations towards our family and society but money can never buy us peace of mind or eternal happiness. Why not then run after something which is permanent and eternal? To achieve that we shall have to concentrate on Yoga and meditation. However, it doesn’t mean that everyone should become a Yogi or a Sanyasi but one can maintain a steady balance between the material possessions and spiritual attainments. Do remember, one can acquire a blissful state of money even when remaining in the family. The only thing is that one should keep a sizeable portion of his earning for charity and good causes. That will give him inner satisfaction. Even our Rishis and Munis who meditated for years together in jungles and mountains ultimately returned to society to share their spiritual experiences with the people.
Not only human beings even the animals also pay back to their Creator by doing something for others. A donkey carries heavy load on his back, a cow gives us milk and a sheep gives us wool. Even the trees pay back to mother earth by bearing fruit. Man is perhaps the only being who cares a little of his Creator. He simply believes in the hedonist philosophy of eat, drink and be merry, seldom remembering God, who has given him such a precious life. He wrongly thinks that whatever he has earned is his own creation.
Dwelling on this point Gandhiji once said, the rich people should consider themselves to be trustees and not the owners of their wealth and added the money should be means to do something good for the society and not and end in itself.
In our holy scriptures there is the story of a Brahmin who worshipped Lord Shiva for several years and ultimately had the Darshan of the Lord who blessed him with a boon. The Brahmin asked for a Paras Stone which could make him the richest man on the earth. Lord Shiva asked him to go to Kashi and collect the precious stone from one of the devotees there. The Brahmin went to Kashi but was amazed to see Lord Shiva’s devotee’s austere life-style. The very first question the Brahmin put to him was: Why he was not making gold with the help of Paras Stone? The devotee very humbly replied that he didn’t require gold as he was having something more precious than it. Curiously enough the Brahmin craved to have that other thing which was more important than the Paras Stone. Happily the devotee gave him a Mantra saying that by reciting it the Brahmin could sail across the sea of desires and free himself from the bondage of life and death. Filled with gratitude, the Brahmin came back alongwith his prized possession and spent the rest of his life in remembering the name of the Lord.
From the above example we see that remembering and reciting God’s name is more important than amassing wealth and material possessions.
