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Religion in everyday life
acquires wealth, the person makes many meritorious plans, but they vanish from his mind once the wealth is acquired. Such wealth fills his mind with darkness, erasing all positive thoughts. Experiencing pain and regret at the thought of charity, he recoils from any such intentions. And despite this, if he still performs charity due to unavoidable circumstances or societal pressures, he experiences a deep sense of regret and loss. Thus, he is full of negative emotions before as well as after undertaking the act of charity. The loss of his wealth pains him like a scorpion's sting.
Keeping these two descriptions in mind, you can decide whether the wealth that you have acquired is from punyānubandhi punya or from pāpānubandhī punya.
I am sure that every follower of Jainism must be familiar with the story of Mamman Seth. Let me state it in brief; it has a very interesting twist.
Mamman Seth of Rajagruhi was an extremely wealthy man. It is said that he owned wealth amounting to ninety-nine crores. But he held on to his wealth and never enjoyed it. In fact, he did not allow his own sons to either wear decent clothes or even eat a sumptuous meal. Finally, insult added to injury and one day his sons decided to confront him.
They felt that they could not go on living without proper food or clothes despite their father being so wealthy. They reasoned with him that someday his wealth would be inherited by them. In the meanwhile, he could protect his wealth like a hen would her eggs, but that he should give away some of it to them so that they could invest it in business and live their lives as they chose.
The Seth said, “I am ready to give you some property, but I will take it back with interest."
"But we are your sons!" they exclaimed.
To which he responded, “You may be my sons, but how can I let you squander away my hard-earned money? I do not ask you for your earnings, but I insist upon taking an interest on the principal amount that I give you."
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