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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 11: Chapter 23: Verses 13-25
A very great despondency overtook the Brahmana, who, having lost hiswealth, had been reduced to a pitiable condition and had thus long been brooding over his lot and sorrowing with his throat choked with tears.
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And he said (to himself) as follows:- "Oh, what a pity ! In vain has this body been subjected to suffering by me, who took such (great) pains over (the acquisition of) wealth neither for religious merit nor for self-gratification ! Generally the riches of misers never contribute to their (bodily) comfort (or happiness). In this life, on the other hand, they conduce to the agony of their soul; and when a miser is no more (in this world) they lead him to hell (as a result of neglect of his obligatory and other duties). Just as white leprosy spoils an exterior worth coveting, even a little greed mars the immaculate glory of the glorious and the laudable qualities that exist in those possessing merit. Bodily exertion, apprehension, anxiety and delusion fall to the lot of men engaged in the acquisition of wealth, in augmenting and preserving it once it has been acquired, and anxiety (grief alone) is involved in its expenditure, loss and enjoyment. (Moreover) since the tendency to misappropriate others' property, violence, mendacity, hypocrisy, covetousness and anger, pride, arrogance, discord, animosity, distrust, a spirit of rivalry and fondness for women in general, love of gambling and addiction to wine-these fifteen evils found in men are believed to have their source in wealth; therefore, a seeker of (final) beatitude should abandon from a distance the evil going by the name of wealth (lit., that which is solicited).(One's own) brothers, wife, parents and uncles as well as one's near and dear ones, who were (once) full of love, nay, had identity of interest, are all estranged in no time by a single shell and converted into enemies. Agitated and incensed over the question of the least wealth, these people cast at once (all) affection to the winds and, full of jealousy, forsake in no time and (even) take the life of their rival. They who, having secured a human birth-worthy of being solicited even by immortals-and there too the status of a Brahmana, the foremost of the twice-born, and yet ignoring it, mar (fail to achieve) their self-interest (in the shape of final beatitude) meet with an evil destiny (go down to hell as a result of their addiction to the evils enumerated in verse 18 above). Having obtained this (human) body, the gateway to heaven as well as to final beatitude, what mortal man would get attached to wealth, the abode of (all) evil ? He who guards his wealth like a Yaksa, neither propitiates (by means of it) the gods, the Rsis, the manes and (other) living beings kinsmen, relatives and other claimants nor himself and goes down (to perdition). My fortune, lifetime and strength, through which men of
understanding achieve perfection, have (all) been carelessly spent, occupied as I have been with My fruitless endeavours in the cause of (amassing) wealth. What can I possibly accomplish now, as I have grown old ?
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