sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ mukunda-caraṇaiṣiṇām |
upekṣyaiḥ kiṁ dhana-stambhair asadbhir asad-āśrayaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.10.18)
“What purpose do sādhus who are of equal mind and desirous [only] of Mukunda’s feet have with those who are proud of wealth, asat, sheltered in the asat, and [thus] fit to be ignored?”
vṛttaṁ yatnena saṁrakṣed vittam eti ca yāti ca |
akṣīṇo vittataḥ kṣīṇo vṛttatas tu hato hataḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.36.30)
“Carefully safeguard your conduct (vṛtta). Wealth (vitta) comes and goes. A loss of wealth is no loss, but ruination of [one’s] conduct is [utter] ruination.”
kim ātmanānena jahāti yo’ntataḥ
kiṁ riktha-hāraiḥ svajanākhya-dasyubhiḥ |
kiṁ jāyayā saṁsṛti-hetu-bhūtayā
martyasya gehaiḥ kim ihāyuṣo vyayaḥ ||
itthaṁ sa niścitya pitāmaho mahān
agādha-bodho bhavataḥ pāda-padmam |
dhruvaṁ prapede hy akutobhayaṁ janād
bhītaḥ svapakṣa-kṣapaṇasya sattama ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.22.9–10)
[Bali Mahārāja explains to Vāmanadeva why Prahlāda Mahārāja took shelter in him:] “‘What good is this body, which leaves one in the end? What good are the bandits known as kinsmen, who steal away one’s wealth? What good is a wife, who is a cause of saṁsāra? And what good are houses, wherein there is [only] the loss of a mortal’s life?’ Thus resolved and wary of the world, that great grandfather [of mine], of unfathomable understanding, took shelter in your unwavering lotus feet, because of which there can be no fear whatsoever, even though you were the destroyer of his own dynasty, O Best of the virtuous!”
ataś ca dharmibhiḥ pumbhir anīhārthaḥ praśasyate |
prakṣālanād dhi paṅkasya dūrād asparśanaṁ varam ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.2.47)
“Therefore, indifference towards wealth on the part of dharmic persons is praiseworthy. Remaining untouched by mud from afar is certainly better than washing [it off after touching it].”
kasmāt saṅkliśyate vidvān vyarthayārthehayāsakṛt |
kasyacin māyayā nūnaṁ loko’yaṁ suvimohitaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.23.26)
“Why is [even] a learned person repeatedly troubled by meaningless endeavors for wealth? Certainly this world is completely bewildered by someone’s māyā.”
anarghyāṇy api ratnāni labhyante vibhavaiḥ sukham |
durlabho ratna-koṭyāpi kṣaṇo’pi hi gatāyuṣaḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Even invaluable jewels can be obtained easily with riches, but even one moment of life bygone is difficult to attain even with millions of jewels.”
brahman yam anugṛhṇāmi tad viśo vidhunomy aham |
yan madaḥ puruṣaḥ stabdho lokaṁ māṁ cāvamanyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.22.24; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 47)
“[Śrī Bhagavān:] O Brahmā, from one whom I favor I remove that wealth by which the person becomes proud, obstinate, and disrespectful towards the world and myself.”
ye māṁ bhajanti dāmpatye tapasā vrata-caryayā |
kāmātmāno’pavargeśaṁ mohitā mama māyayā ||
māṁ prāpya māniny apavarga-sampadaṁ
vāñchanti ye sampada eva tat-patim |
te manda-bhāgā niraye’pi ye nṛṇāṁ
mātrātmakatvān nirayaḥ susaṅgamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatan: 10.60.52–53; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 16)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Rukmiṇī Devī:] The desirous who by means of austerity and performance of rites worship me, the master of apavarga [i.e., mokṣa, or, the bestower of prema-bhakti, the ultimate puruṣārtha beyond even mokṣa], for the sake of matrimony [i.e., to enjoy the pleasures of being married] are deluded by my māyā. O Mānini! Those who desire [material] wealth [even] after attaining [alt., propitiating] me, who am the master of that [i.e., of wealth] and the wealth of apavarga, are unfortunate, since that [i.e., wealth] is present even in hell [alt., in births in lower, hellish species and conditions], and hell is a good condition for [such] persons on account of [their] being fixated upon the elements [i.e., on enjoying pleasures of sense objects].”
pustakasthā tu yā vidyā para-hasta-gataṁ dhanam |
kārya-kāle samutpanne na sā vidyā na tad-dhanam ||
(Cāṇakhya-nīti-darpaṇa: 16.20)
“Knowledge situated in a book is not knowledge, and wealth held in the hand of another is not wealth, when the time of need arises.”
na manuṣye guṇaḥ kaścid anyo dhanavatām api |
anāturatvād bhadraṁ te mṛta-kalpā hi rogiṇaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.36.65; Vidura-nīti)
“There is no other quality in a human being, including even affluence, that is more blessed than being healthy [lit., non-diseased]. The sickly are as though already dead.”
