Wealth That Benefits No One

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:58:20 +0000

He who has amassed great wealth but does not enjoy it
is reckoned as dead, like his unused heap.

Believing wealth is everything, yet giving away nothing,
the miser himself will be possessed by a miserable birth.

The mere sight of men who lust after wealth,
caring nothing for renown, is a burden to the Earth.

What could a man, unloved by even a single soul,
imagine he might leave to posterity?

Amid millions heaped high, a man remains poor
if he neither gives away his wealth nor enjoys it himself.

Vast wealth can be a wretched curse to one who
neither gladdens himself in its worth nor gives to the worthy.

The wealth of a greedy man who gives nothing to the needy
is like the beauty of a maiden growing old unwed.

The wealth of a man whom no heart loves
is like fruits on a poisonous tree in the heart of a village.

He who casts out love and dharma and chooses self-denial
so wealth can pile high will see it seized by strangers.

The short-lived poverty of a benevolent rich man
is like the temporary dryness of a bountiful rain cloud

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