कः अर्थवान् ? Who is Rich?

The “Pune Porsche Case” as it is being called now has been headlining all this week. A 17-year old kid of a prominent builder who was driving a car without license and while under the influence of alcohol rammed into a two-wheeler and killed 2 Software engineers in the wee hours of last Sunday morning.

What was striking were the excesses at many different levels in this incident –

• Under-age kids consuming alcohol

• Bars being open beyond legally permissible hours, serving liquor to under-age minors

• Under-age kid driving a car that was not registered with the RTO (Regional Transport Office)

• The elected representative, police and/or judicial system trying to give the kid a lenient way out

“Rich kid drinks, drives and kills two” was the refrain on most of the news channels and print media.

That made me think, what, indeed, is the definition of "Rich"?

Well, a shloka from Vairagya Shatakam goes thus –

वयमिह परितुष्टा वल्कलैस्त्वं दुकूलै: सम इह परितोषो निर्विशेषो विशेष: | स तु भवति दरिद्रो यस्य तॄष्णा विशाला मनसि च परितुष्टे कोऽर्थवान् को दरिद्र: ||

daridrah

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The context of this Shloka is that An Ascetic / Yogi is saying to a King –

वयम् इह परितुष्टा वल्कलैः     -      We are content here in clothes made of bark

त्वं दुकूलै:                                           - and you (are content) in your silk garments.

सम इह परितोषः निर्विशेषः विशेष:            -       The contentment is same whether there is something special or not.

सः तु भवति दरिद्रः यस्य तॄष्णा विशाला  -      He is poor whose thirst (desire) is abundant (unquenchable).

 मनसि च परितुष्टे कः अर्थवान् कः दरिद्रः - When one’s mind is contented, who is (really) rich and who is the poor?

Generally, we call someone "poor" when one does not have enough to meet his/her needs.

Now think about this –

You may have all the material riches of the world, the swankiest bungalow, the latest car model, ability to spend in an evening what thousands toil to earn in a month or an year….

But if in your mind you are not fulfilled or satisfied, can you consider yourself “rich”?

No, at best, one can say you are “moneyed” or "affluent".

You may have piles of money. But if you still desire for more money, more fame or more followers, then you are always “wanting more”.   And this “unsatiated want” leaves you feeling you are poor in spite of the abundance around you!

Does that mean that one should not have high ambitions? Should one be content with “clothes of bark”? Is owning silken garments, cars and other material wealth wrong?

No, not at all! What the shloka says is that when you are contented in your mind, whatever you have is irrelevant. You will be rich whether you are in a bungalow or a hut.

Desire has no end… if you satisfy it with a luxury clothes, it then gets hungry for a high-end car. Once you feed it with the car, it wants a swanky bungalow in a prime location and so on…

Go ahead and reach for the stars, but also learn to be content with what you have! Know that the real riches lie in having a healthy and fit body, well-wishing family and friends around you, means to a honest livelihood and a strong value system.

So earn wealth by all means, but also accumulate these riches which will give you true contentment.