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116
THE WAY OF LIFE
people. Some people feel that it is respectable to go to such hotels. They spend thousands of rupees on fashionable dress and decorations.
* They decorate their houses with expensive furniture and
with all kinds of mechanical gadgets.
I have given only a few examples. There are countless other kinds of wasteful expenditure. Those people fall into misery when all their wealth is exhausted. Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth is capricious and changeful. She does not remain with anyone permanently. That means wealth does not remain with anyone permanently.
From the Audience : As long as we have wealth with us, we will enjoy it.
NOT ONLY THE PRESENT BUT THE FUTURE ALSO
Maharajashri : Intelligent people think not only of the present but also of the future. They will think thus, "If we have got all this wealth on account of the efficacy of our punya (merit) we will use it for noble purposes. We shall spend it for rendering worship and service to the Paramatma. We shall spend it to render service to sadhus and saints. We shall spend it to help the jivas who are in distress. We shall spend it for the noble cause of disseminating and publishing samyaginan (true knowledge)”. Their examples are Emperor, Samprati and King Kumarpal. They try to emulate the examples of such great men as Minister Vimal Shah, Vastupal, Tejpal, Jagadu Shah and Bhama Shah.
The life-histories of those great men reveal to us how they pursued the three purusharthas with a sense of propriety and balance and how they spent their enormous wealth for noble causes. Of course, they lived in a style suited to their wealth and splendour but they did not spend their money wastefully. They did not hoard wealth and they also did not discard the Dharmapurushartha.
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