Achieving Happiness

According to the line of Athervaved 7/17/1 — let the householders by their diligence and God’s grace achieve happiness through money and strength.

Message: The Vedas do not prohibit the earning of money. They ask the people to earn in a religious and just manner. That man is ideal, who earns money in accordance with religious tenets through excellent means, who never thinks of earning under the pressure of greed through unjust and irreligious means, or by exploiting others or by depriving others of their rights. He always prays to God, “agne nayaa supathaa raaye” which means “O God! Make us tread the good path for earning money.”

Money earned through immoral and unjust means shines like the glow-worm, makes us happy for some time and then darkness reigns. It is the duty of the gentleman that he never leaves any stone unturned in his diligence, and remain contented in whatever he earns through maximum hard work. Without causing sorrow for anyone, without bending down before wicked persons and without giving up the path of goodness, whatever little is earned is itself enough. Immorally earned money can create an overflow of facilities and comforts, but also, simultaneously makes the family members indulgent in pleasures, lazy, shirkers, greedy, lecherous and diseased. Little happiness and more sorrow is obtained with that money, through which many types of bad tendencies and addictions also enter into the family. Because of its bad influence there is physical and mental downfall of the family members, and mutual malice, doubts and ill-feelings are created among them.

That is why; great emphasis is laid in our scriptures on the purity of a householder’s earning. Simultaneously it is also necessary to put that money to good use. Householders must try to provide for the necessary articles for a proper home but must not allow things for luxury and indulgence of the senses. This Vedic sentiment is being ignored everywhere. Billions of rupees worth cosmetics and other luxury items are imported from the foreign countries. Our dies, style of living, styles of dress, everything is full of artificiality and pomp. It is not only improper but even harmful from the viewpoint of health in the Nepalese atmosphere and lifestyle.

Such diligence for maintaining the purity of money is possible when the man has sufficient willpower, the courage to ignore material temptations and there is unity of thinking in all the members of the family. This type of education is given to children right from childhood in cultured families and therefore they develop right from the beginning the self-confidence to resist bad customs. All the family members in such families achieve spiritual progress in the heavenly atmosphere of happiness and contentment and become helpful in the creation of a healthy society.