Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Sookti – March 21, 2020 – Mysore
Compiled by: Parimala Eshwarla
Varaṃ dāridŗyam anyāya prabhavād vibhavādiha
Kŗśatā abhimatā dēhē, pīnatā na tu śōphataḥ ǁ
It is best to lead a life of poverty than to be known as opulent due to illegally earned money. It is best to appear lean than to appear bloated or obese due to ill-health. (śophataḥ means to be bloated).
The desire to earn money is undoubtedly good. However, the path selected for acquiring wealth should be appropriate and good! It is important to earn wealth legally and through righteous means.
Instead of harming others or extracting wealth from others through force and then acquiring fame as a moneyed person, it is better to be poor but useful to society and be respected in society. Such life is truly filled with bliss.
Normally, wealth earned is used to buy comforts and luxuries for one’s own use. It is used for eating and for entertainment. Health and ill-health – both are outcomes of food alone! Bhagavad Gita classifies our food into 3 divisions: Sattvik, rājasic and tāmasic.
Money earned through Sattvik methods (sattva marga) ensures life becomes pleasant, joyful and blissful. Money earned through rājasic methods, throws the person into manifold troubles, tensions and anxieties. Money earned through tāmasic methods makes him undergo fearsome, dreaded diseases.
Not just that. When a person enjoys luxuries and comforts using wealth obtained by force, or by killing others, then, his sin ultimately transfers to his children and grandchildren due to which untimely deaths occur in the family. Inflicted with deadly diseases, members of his family undergo hellish suffering.
Wrongly presuming that a lavish life can be led on the strength of illegally or wrongfully earned wealth, the person goes in that path only to end up in sufferings, sorrows, diseases and untimely death. Better than this is to earn little, but more importantly through righteous means (sanmarga) thereby leading peaceful and happy lives. This is what this sookti teaches us.
Edema causes the body to appear swollen, however this bloating must not be misconstrued for good health. We must accept it as a disease itself. Better than being f at due to edema, it is better to be thin but healthy, isn’t it? The sookti alerts us in this aspect.