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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
93
A miser does not give away his wealth in charity fearing poverty. But with the same fear of poverty even a benefactor gives away his wealth in charity.
A benefactor thinks that he is wealthy in this life because of the benefactions rendered by him in his previous life (poorva janma) and that if he does not help others in this life, he would be poor in his next life. A poet has composed a poem about a miser stating that he is the greatest benefactor, “There has never been and never will be a benefactor greater than a miser because he gives away his wealth to others even without touching it, that is, without spending even a bit of it. The implication is that he does not give his wealth to others with his own hands but after liis death his wealth is taken away by others. The miser puts by his money penny by penny (he goes on saving pie by pie). But it is enjoyed by others. In a subhashita, a poet says, “A man who has wealth and who does not give it away to others is the greatest fool on the earth because, he experiences great anxieties and agonies to earn money; to take care of it and suffers great grief when it is stolen." Even Mother Earth feels that such misers are a burden to lier. Sri Harsha has written the following poem expressing this idea : याचमान-जन-मानसवृतेः
पूरणाय बत जन्म न यस्य तेन भूमिरतिभारवतीया न द्रुमैर्न गिरिभिर्न समुद्रैः
-नैषधीय चरितभ rāchamāna-Jana-Mānasavriteh
Purana ya Bata Janma na yasya Tena Bhoomiratibhārvatiyam Na drumaima giribhihirna samudraih
--Naishadheeya Charitam “The earth is burdened by those whose life is not dedicated to the objective of satisfying the desires of the needy; not by trees or mountains or seas."
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