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Book 1 - Vairagya Prakaranam

Chapter 13 - Denunciation of Wealth

1. श्रीराम उवाच ।
इयमस्मिन्स्थितोदारा संसारे परिकल्पिता ।
श्रीर्मुने परिमोहाय सापि नूनं कदर्थदा ॥ १ ॥
Rama said:—
It is opulence, Oh sage! that is reckoned a blessing here; it is even she that is the cause of our troubles and errors.
2. उल्लासबहुलानन्तकल्लोलानलमाकुलान् ।
जडान्प्रवहति स्फारान्प्रावृषीव तरङ्गिणी ॥ २ ॥
She bears away as a river in the rainy season, all high-spirited simpletons overpowered by its current.
3. चिन्तादुहितरो बह्वयो भूरिदुर्ललितैधिताः ।
चञ्चलाः प्रभवन्त्यस्यास्तरङ्गाः सरितो यथा ॥ ३ ॥
Her daughters are anxieties fostered by many a malpractice, like the waves of a stream raised by the winds.
4. एषा हि पदमेकत्र न निबध्नाति दुर्भगा ।
दग्धेवानियताचारमितश्चेतश्च धावति ॥ ४ ॥
She can never stand steady on her legs any where, but like a wretched woman who has burnt her feet, she limps from one place to another.
5. जनयन्ती परं दाहं परामृष्टाङ्गिका सती ।
विनाशमेव धत्तेऽन्तर्दीपलेखेव कज्जलम् ॥ ५ ॥
Fortune like a lamp both burns and blackens its possessor, until it is extinguished by its own inflammation.
6. गुणागुणविचारेण विनैव किल पार्श्वगम् ।
राजप्रकृतिवन्मूढा दुरारूढाऽवलम्बते ॥ ६ ॥
She is unapproachable as princes and fools, and likewise as favourable as they to her adherents, without scanning their merits or faults.
7. कर्मणा तेनतेनैषा विस्तारमनुगच्छति ।
दोषाशीविषवेगस्य यत्क्षीरं विस्तरायते ॥ ७ ॥
She begets only evils in them by their various acts (of profligacy), as good milk given to serpents, serves but to increase the poignancy of their poison.
8. तावच्छीतमृदुस्पर्शाः परे स्वे च जने जनाः ।
वात्ययेव हिमं यावच्छ्रिया न परुषीकृताः ॥ ८ ॥
Men (by nature) are gentle and kind hearted to friends and strangers, until they are hardheartened by their riches, which like blasts of wind, serve to stiffen (the liquid) frost.
9. प्राज्ञाः शूराः कृतज्ञाश्च पेशला मृदवश्च ये ।
पांसुमुष्ट्येव मणयः श्रिया ते मलिनीकृताः ॥ ९ ॥
As brilliant gems are soiled by dust, so are the learned, the brave, the grateful, the mild and gentle, corrupted by riches.
10. न श्रीः सुखाय भगवन्दुःखायैव हि वर्धते ।
गुप्ता विनाशनं धत्ते मृतिं विषलता यथा ॥ १० ॥
Riches do not conduce to one’s happiness, but redound to his woe and destruction, as the plant aconite when fostered, hides in itself the fatal poison.
11. श्रीमानजननिन्द्यश्च शूरश्चाप्यविकत्थनः ।
समदृष्टिः प्रभुश्चैव दुर्लभाः पुरुषास्त्रयः ॥ ११ ॥
A rich man without blemish, a brave man devoid of vanity, and a master wanting partiality, are the three rarities on earth.
12. एषा हि विषमा दुःखभोगिनां गहना गुहा ।
घनमोहगजेन्द्राणां विन्ध्यशैलमहातटी ॥ १२ ॥
The rich are as inaccessible as the dark cavern of a dragon, and as unapproachable as the deep wilderness of the Vindhya mountain inhabited by fierce elephants.
13. सत्कार्यपद्मरजनी दुःखकैरवचन्द्रिका ।
सुदृष्टिदीपिकावात्या कल्लोलौघतरङ्गिणी ॥ १३ ॥
Riches like the shadow of night, overcast the good qualities of men, and like moon-beams brings to bloom the buds of their misery. They blow away the brightness of a fair prospect as a hurricane, and resemble a sea with huge surges (of disquiet).
14. संभ्रमाभ्रादिपदवी विषादविषवर्धिनी ।
केदारिका विकल्पानां खेदायभयभोगिनी ॥ १४ ॥
They bring upon us a cloud of fear and error, increase the poison of despondence and regret, and are like the dreadful snakes in the field of our choice.
15. हिमं वैराग्यवल्लीनां विकारोलूकयामिनी ।
राहुदंष्ट्रा विवेकेन्दोः सौजन्याम्भोजचन्द्रिका ॥ १५ ॥
Fortune is (as a killing) frost to the bondsmen of asceticism, and as the night to the owls of libertinism; she is an eclipse to the moonlight of reason, and as moonbeams to the bloom of the lilies of folly.
16. इन्द्रायुधवदालोलनानारागमनोहरा ।
लोला तडिदिवोत्पन्नध्वंसिनी च जडाश्रया ॥ १६ ॥
She is as transitory as the Iris, and alike pleasant to view by the play of her colours; she is as fickle as the lightning, which vanishes no sooner it appears to sight. Hence none but the ignorant have reliance in her.
17. चापलावजितारण्य नकुली नकुलीनजा ।
विप्रलम्भनतात्पर्यजितोग्रमृगतृष्णिका ॥ १७ ॥
She is as unsteady as a well born damsel following a base-born man to the words; and like a (deceptive) mirage that tempts the run-aways to fall to it as the doe.
18. लहरीवैकरूपेण पदं क्षणमकुर्वती ।
चला दीपशिखेवातिदुर्ज्ञेयगतिगोचरा ॥ १८ ॥
Unsteady as the wave, she is never steady in any place; (but is ever wavering to all sides) like the flickering flame of a lamp. So her leaning is known to nobody.
19. सिंहीव विग्रहव्यग्रकरीन्द्रकुलपोथिनी ।
खड्गधारेव शिशिरा तीक्ष्णतीक्ष्णाशयाश्रया ॥ १९ ॥
She like the lioness is ever prompt in fighting, and like the leader of elephants favourable to her partizans. She is as sharp as the blade of a sword (to cut off all obstacles), and is the patroness of sharp-witted sharpers.
20. नानयापहृतार्थिन्या दुराधिपरिलीनया ।
पश्याम्यभव्यया लक्ष्म्या किंचिद्दुःखादृते सुखम् ॥ २० ॥
I see no felicity in uncivil prosperity, which is full of treachery, and replete with every kind of danger and trouble.
21. दूरेणोत्सारिताऽलक्ष्म्या पुनरेव समादरात् ।
अहो बताश्लिष्यतीव निर्लज्जा दुर्जना सदा ॥ २१ ॥
It is pity that prosperity, like a shameless wench will again lay hold on a man, after being abandoned by him in his association with (her rival) Poverty.
मनोरमा कर्षति चित्तवृत्तिं कदर्थसाध्या क्षणभङ्गुरा च ।
व्यालावलीगात्रविवृत्तदेहा श्वभ्रोत्थिता पुष्पलतेव लक्ष्मीः ॥ २२ ॥
What is she with all her loveliness and attraction of human hearts, but momentary thing obtained by all manner of evil means, and resembling at best a flower shrub, growing out of a cave inhabited by a snake, and beset by reptiles all about its stem.
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