Money (dhana, artha) is intricately connected with our lives. In our view today, money means bundles of currency. Gold, silver and diamonds have been replaced by paper and plastic today. But this is not the idea of money in ancient India. The word money (dhana) had a different meaning altogether. S’ree Mahalakshmi is the giver of wealth and prosperity (S’ree). The Sanskrit word S’ree means radiance, prosperity, welfare, good fortune, success, auspiciousness, wealth, treasure and riches. The word dhana in scriptures, in mantras, such as Dhanam-agni dhanam vayur-dhanam suryo dhanam vasu | Dhanam-indro brihaspatir-varunaam dhanam-astu me||. It is said that with the grace of Mahalakshmi, Agni, Vayu, Surya, Vasus, Indra, Varuna are all enjoying wealth. These divinities have no house to maintain or children to support. What does wealth mean to them - certainly not Gold or diamonds? The entire creation is living depending on them. That means they are wealthy, they themselves are wealth. We can never become like them. We all need money, therefore we are all really poor. It is natural for humans to desire money. Money and wealth are needed to fulfil the desires (kaama, needs and wants) of life and is the driver of material life. Pursuit of artha and kaama are thus the two main activities of mundane life. Sanatana Dharma covers these two with the guards, dharma and moksha, which are not considered in the commerce and economics of contemporary societies S’ree, deified as Goddess Mahalakshmi is as pure as fire and as resplendent as sun. S’ree may also be compared to the electric current flowing constantly in a power system with active and reactive components Lakshmi and Alakshmi, mentioned in the hymn, Sree-Suktam of Veda. (From a short story Dhana mulam idam jagat of Sadguru Sivananda Murty garu based on a tale from Brahmanda Purana)
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 02:47:15 +0000
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