What Do You Do For Money

By krishnasmercy on April 21, 2025 • ( 0 )

“Of what use are wealth, comforts and pleasures, home, wives, and sons if one is not able to see Shri Rama?” (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 48.7)

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किं नु तेषां गृहैः कार्यं किं दारै: किं धनेन वा
पुत्रैर्वा किं सुखैर्वापि ये न पश्यन्ति राघवम्

kiṃ nu teṣāṃ gṛhaiḥ kāryaṃ kiṃ dārai: kiṃ dhanena vā
putrairvā kiṃ sukhairvāpi ye na paśyanti rāghavam

“You know people thought I was crazy this entire time. They said that I had lost my mind. I was spending too much time visiting conspiracy-theory websites and listening to fringe commentators who were only in it for the money. They said I had gone too extreme in losing trust in every major institution in society. I needed to be more normal. I needed to fit in with the rest of society.

“Well, I am being proven correct every single day. Bit by bit, piece by piece. It is an incremental process, but people are starting to come around. Wherever you turn, there is fraud. Those public service announcements. Those recommendations for medical treatment that play on the loudspeaker in the supermarket. That supposed ‘fact-checking’ news site. The meritless dismissal of the obvious link between experimental injections and brain damage in children. The news media being honest and free of outside influence.

“Nope. They are all corrupt. Total frauds. They not only lie, cheat, and steal, but they take taxpayer funds to do it. They are so vile that they could never stand on their own. They are built on this house of cards, and for the time being that house is beginning to crumble. You really can’t believe anyone anymore.

“The thing is, what can we do? Which direction should we follow? How do we pass along vital information to the next generation? What if a child wants to become a lawyer, a doctor, a government official, or a titan of industry? Should we sit them down and explain how the system really works, that there is this subtle scratching of backs that takes place?

“Where is truth? Just what is truth? How are we supposed to tell? Who is the ideal role model? There are so many sayings about how man will descend to the lowest depths in order to make money. Everybody’s got their price. Name yours.”

The Vedas explain that we can understand God beyond a mere abstract conceptualization. Rather than some nameless, faceless figure who is beyond our sight, who we can only hope to believe in, through faith, there is a way to at least begin to define Him. The best way to start is to apply a name. Take a term that actually means something.

ऐश्वर्यस्य समग्रस्य
वीर्यस्य यशसः श्रियः
ज्ञान-वैराग्ययश् चैव
षण्णां भग इतीङ्गना

aiśvaryasya samagrasya
vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ
jñāna-vairāgyayaś caiva
ṣaṇṇāṁ bhaga itīṅganā

“Bhagavan means who possesses these six opulences in full: all riches, all strength, all influence, all wisdom, all beauty, all renunciation.” (Vishnu Purana, 6.5.47)

Parashara Muni says that we can know God through six opulences. These are held simultaneously and to the highest degree. The opulences are: beauty, wealth, strength, fame, wisdom, and renunciation. A person who fits this definition is the most fortunate and thereby known as Bhagavan.

From this definition, the appeal for worship and appreciation becomes obvious. God must be the most beautiful. If He has wealth, perhaps He can share some of it with us. He is the most famous, as the Vedas have been singing His glories since before anyone can remember. His wisdom is evident in direct words of instruction, such as those found in Bhagavad-gita.

राज-विद्या राज-गुह्यं
पवित्रम् इदम् उत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं
सु-सुखं कर्तुम् अव्ययम्

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

But what about renunciation? The Sanskrit word is vairagya. What does this mean and how is it an opulence? Why are we praising someone for being detached? Is that something we should strive for? What is the benefit to dispassion? It appears to be a mechanism for self-torture and nothing less.

Pertinent to this discussion is the reality that a person with full vairagya can never be bought off. We think of corruption in the sense of someone going against their duty because of an outside influence. Send enough money and the mind can be changed. Grease the palm, so to speak. The scales of justice will tip in the direction of heaviest monetary value. The decision will fall another way in the courtroom. The king will show favoritism based on financial interest.

But vairagya also means that personal fortune or misfortune does not influence behavior. Someone can have the worst things happen to them and they will remain true. If they are pious, if they act on the wisdom they hold, then their renunciation will serve as a shield against impious behavior.

In His avatara of Shri Rama, Bhagavan offers a visible identification to this concept of limitless vairagya. We can say that someone is strong, but we don’t really know unless and until they are tested. The same applies to renunciation. What if you stand to lose a lot based on a difficult decision? What if you have to weigh the needs of your personal comfort against the pressures of showing dedication to truthfulness and righteousness in the home of the leader of the community?

Shri Rama shows vairagya without hesitation, when adversity strikes at the worst possible time, in an unexpected way. Rama sets aside the throne of Ayodhya as if He never had a personal stake in the ascendency to begin with. Rama shows valor during a time of great distress, and solely to uphold the good name of His father, the venerable King Dasharatha.

There can be no greater display of fortitude and honesty. Anyone can criticize anyone for anything, but Rama is beyond corruption based on this single deed alone, of accepting the request of Queen Kaikeyi to leave the kingdom for fourteen years and live like a pauper. That same immunity to corruption is seen in the supporters of Rama.

Though not otherwise consulted for their sagacious wisdom, the housewives in Ayodhya teach the greatest lesson in assigning priorities in life. They admonish their husbands for not having a spontaneous desire to follow Rama into the forest, to suffer along with Him. Those housewives rhetorically ask about the value of home, family, and comforts in the absence of the vision of Rama, who is God.