Q. Please say something about the effects of attachment to gold. It is said that in gold all the evils of untruth, pride, indulgence in sex, jealousy and enmity are present simultaneously. How can one give up one’s avarice for gold which is a mine of all evils?

A. You are right. Attachment to gold brings lot of sorrows in its train. A person has to suffer from its coils from one birth to another. The two sons of Kubera were told by Devarshi Narada — ‘The pride of wealth destroys the power of discrimination of people engaged in enjoying material wealth in such a way which even the pride of good lineage and of learning or even the blind pride of fun and jokes cannot do. The reason is that a person who is proud of his wealth is usually a drunkard, indulges in sex and is a gambler’. Further - theft, violence, jealousy, untruth, boasting, desire for material gains, anger, pride, self-glorification (to think that I am great man, I am rich, there is none comparable to me in this world — all this amounts to self-glorification), faithlessness, enmity, distrust, conflict and different types of indulgences (hunting, gambling, sleeping in day time, speaking ill of others, indulgence in prostitutes, fondness for singing and dancing, playing, useless travels and drinking — these ten and to do harm to others, to be unruly and oppressive to others, to cause loss to others, to be ill-disposed to others, to be jealous of others, speaking harsh words, to perpetrate cruelty — these eight together they make eighteen different types of indulgences) all those fifteen types of evils have a common origin i.e. wealth — so say the Sadhus. So, the person who is seeking ‘Moksha’ must give up this evil of wealth.

Q. How can one do it?

A. For him, whose heart is steeped in the feeling for his son, his wife, his wealth and property, who is blinded by the outward senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, Hari Naam is the only way, because it destroys all sins completely.

Q. Is it sin which creates attraction for wealth?

A. Yes, it is sin which by creating attachment to wealth, drags a person to hell. As his sin gets weakened by singing ‘Naam’ so his attachment for his family decreases and that for God increases.

Q. What you say amounts to this that if one can go on singing ‘Naam’ one’s attachment for money is destroyed. But the number of persons who have given up everything is very small. Moreover, every one requires money. In these days one cannot take one step forward without money. If one has wealth, it oppresses him; if one has no wealth, he is in serious difficulty.

A. A man faces more trouble if he has wealth than if he has none.

Q. But money is necessary even for preserving this body

A. It is unnecessary for those ‘Vaishnavas’, who have taken shelter under God, to think of food and clothes. He maintains this entire world; then how can he neglect his own ‘Bhaktas’?

Q. Of course one need not have any such anxiety if one is a ‘Bhakta’. But my trouble is that I am not yet a ‘Bhakta’. I do not know how long it will take before this delusion goes.

A. If in this world, which is burning in the flame of ‘Moha’ (delusion), one can somehow or other enter the shade of cloud in the form of Naam, he does not have to burn any more. The burning comes from ‘Moha.’ As soon as ‘Moha’ (delusion) is destroyed, everything becomes full of bliss.

Q. What is ‘Moha’?

A. Attachment to one’s mother, father and wife, attachment to one’s house, wealth, property, attachment to honour and praise, attachment to son and friend such transient things are called ‘Moha’. Its synonym is Ajayana (ignorance) or Avidya (absence of want of learning). This ‘Moha’ is the cause of this ‘Samsara’.

Q. How can one escape from the clutches of Moha?

A. The only way to do it is by Naam. Constant singing of ‘Hari Naam’ destroys the six evils of desire, anger, avarice, pride and jealousy. ‘Naam-kirtan’ completely uproots the enemy in the form of the ‘Samsara’: This is the basis of all spiritual knowledge.

Q. Does it follow, therefore, that if one can hold on to ‘Naam’, one need not do any other form of ‘Sadhan’ or ‘Bhajan’; and through ‘Naam’ alone he will understand whatever it is necessary to understand, know whatever is to be known and get whatever he wants to get?

A. How can there be any doubt about it? Nothing else is necessary; one should make constant effort so that not even a single breath is wasted. When he has practised it for some time, he will get response from his inner self. Once he has got that, he can be without any more anxiety. Just as a straw dropped in a river is carried away inexorably by the current, in the same way the internal response, the internal current will carry him through and will reach him to the lake of ‘Paramananda’.

Q. Does not obstruction or danger come in the way?

A. Of course it does. A boat is floating along with the current. If some drops anchor, the boat cannot proceed any further. In the same way if bad company, attachment to women etc. intervene, the progress is impeded. Like an anchored boat, the person revolves round that position.

Q. Will he have to go on revolving forever?

A. No, that does not happen. The Mother never ignores her son. He gets a terrible shock from that bad company and attachment to women and then lifts the anchor in a hurry and starts progressing again.

Q. How do these bad influences come in the way of progress?

A. This is the result of misdeeds done in the previous life. These old misdeeds cause obstruction on the way. God, by his ‘Kirpa’, which is not bound by any reason or cause, removes that obstruction. All that is necessary is ‘Naam’, only ‘Naam’, constant ‘Naam’.

— Because Naam is the best refuge, Naam is the best place to give ‘Punya’, Naam is the best God, Naam is the best penance Naam is the best gift, Naam is the best action, Naam is the best Dharma and Naam is the best result — it is said — Naam is the object desired by the Bhakta. Naam is the only liberator. Oh, best of Brahmins, those who have material desires, the means to achieve them is Naam. Naam is the best ‘Bhakti’ (devotion), Naam is the best ending, Naam is the best ‘Japa’, Naam is the best prayer. For those who are without desires, Naam is the greatest wealth which gives them the pleasure of liberation. Naam purifies the Sattva Guna. Naam gives knowledge, — it is said; for those who are striving for liberation, Naam is the great liberator and for those who have worldly desires, Naam is the giver of their desired objects. For the Vaishnavas, the final result is Naam, so always remember and repeat Naam.

Jai Naam Jai Naam Jai Jai Naam.
Jai Naam Jai Naam Jai Jai Naam.