The greed for more is always there in us. We get enough, we have enough, we store enough but still we want more. This need for more is called greed. In many of us, there is a rapacious desire to acquire wealth and possessions. Where greed exists, morality and ethics vanish. We think wrong, speak wrong and act wrong in order to acquire more wealth. Jealousy, anger, bitterness and lies become our companions and best friends. In such company, we can rarely be at peace and we live a stressful life. We get momentary joy in gloating over our acquisitions but the minute we recall that someone else has more, our joy vanishes and we are full of jealousy. All our energy and attention are focusing on how to outwit and cheat the other person and take over his wealth and possessions. We may be successful sometimes in doing so, but ultimately greed only brings grief in its wake. This truth is shown in the story of Raj and Tej:
Raj was a very greedy and selfish man. He disliked sharing anything with anyone. He never gave anything to the poor or in charity. He had intense desire to increase his wealth and sometimes took the wrong short cut of seizing the wealth of others by unfair means and getting richer.
One day, as Raj was walking through the bazaar, he lost a purse with thirty gold coins. He was shattered and could hardly think straight. He went to his friend Tej’s house and lamented the loss of the gold coins. Tej was a kind man and knew how much the coins meant to Raj though his friend was extremely wealthy and could easily overlook the loss. So he heard him out and consoled him and sent him home.
Meena, the daughter of Tej came home running carrying a purse with thirty gold coins. She had gone to the bazaar and found it fallen on the way side. Tej told his daughter that the purse belonged to Raj and that she should return the purse to him at once as the poor man was deeply grieved at the loss of the gold coins. So he sent for Raj. Raj was overjoyed that his purse had been found and he rushed to take it back. As he reached there, greed overtook him and he plotted against his good friend who was returning the lost purse. He received the purse with a falsely sweet smile and counted the coins carefully. Then he showed confusion and then rage that ten gold coins were missing. He had kept forty coins in the purse and now only thirty were there. He told Tej that Tej had to pay him the missing ten coins or else he would go to the court for their recovery. Tej flatly refused to do so as he was definite that Meena was honest and that Raj was greedy and dishonest.
Raj went to the judge and filed his complaint against Meena and Tej. The judge sent for Meena and Tej. The judge asked Meena to describe what had happened. Meena told the judge that she had found a purse with thirty gold coins in the bazaar and when she came home she informed her father who asked her to return the purse to Raj. The judge asked Raj how many gold coins he lost. He said forty. The judge gave his ruling: This purse does not belong to you Raj as your purse had forty coins. Since Meena had found the purse and none have claimed it, the coins belonged to her now. If and when someone came with a purse of forty gold coins, the judge would send for Raj and return the purse to him. Raj was asked to hand over the purse to Meena in front of the judge. Raj was shaken that his plan had backfired on him and that he was losing all his money. He confessed that he had lied and that the purse should be returned to him. But the judge would not listen and so Raj lost his money due to his greed.
In the house of God, justice may be slow but it is surely meted out. We always pay heavily when we do wrong to others. Let us overcome greed and other vices so that we can live in peace. Doing the SitaRam Mantra, meditation and following the teachings of the Guru help us in overcoming all the negatives within us. Then grace and bliss fill us and our lives are full of light and love.
