The foolish people who want to become wealthy regard amassing wealth as the greatest virtue. Nay, they consider any path of earning as righteous (Dharma).

In colloquial language, it is said that the craving for money will not leave a person till death. Such kind of people will definitely reach hell post death. In this way, those who have the yearning for money regard the passion for name and fame as a virtue. We can identify such quality in others. But, we can never find it if such quality exists within our own self. How do we come out of this? The situation continues to be the same till the time of death. If it is so, then there is no solution for this problem. When there is no solution at all, then humans can’t be made responsible for it. Hence, we have to understand this in a different angle.

You might have heard of the qualities of Yama and Niyama. Out of these two, the quality of Yama refers to compassion, truth, cleanliness and non-violence. The Manu scripture proclaims: Yamānaschevitassatatam nemansthu kadāchanā!

This means that as long as the human survives; he must adhere to the principle of Yama. When he goes away from this principle, he becomes thoughtless and deceives himself. Hence, there is one and only one solution.

Just like the darkness is dispelled by the brightness of the Sun, to get rid of such ill quality, we must follow the principles of Yama. We may follow any number of disciplines, but without the principle of Yama, everything goes in vain. The above verse tells us that keeping the Yama as the main quality, one can engage in great charities.

Yama and Niyama lead us to a good discipline in our life. Life becomes happy with that. By practicing them, man glows with radiance and peace. Many do not understand this concept. They merely want to be happy without that. By following Yama and Niyama to some extent, one gets good eligibility to experience the real happiness. Yama and Niyama are meant not just for happiness. It is meant to experience bliss along with the happiness. How does such happiness come? It does not come with money, name, fame etc. When a man is rich with all of those, he is in fact quite obsessed. He cannot sleep calmly. Hence, if you follow Yama and Niyama, you can be very peaceful even if you do not possess money, name or fame. This is the result of these two great virtues.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!