What people / media / newspaper say about Akshaya Tiritiya and buying gold on this occassion!
Akshaya Tritiya: In the famous epic of Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were in exile, Lord Krishna gave Draupadi a bowl called Akshaya Pathram. The word Akshaya means "never diminishes." Pathram means bowl/vessel/utensil. Every time they were hungry, all they had to do was to turn the bowl upwards to the sky and they would get food. This supply of food was endless. With this in mind, people buy gold, silver or platinum so that their valuables are replenished endlessly.
There is so much advertising / campaigning by the jewellery shops, banks inducing customers to buy GOLD.
But please see below some quotes from Sastra about GOLD and its accumulation.
At the outset, please do not mistake that devotees are against GOLD - everything has its utility. GOLD if employed in the service of the Lord then it is the best utilization. But if it is used for our own sense gratification then it causes all the evil effects.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1: Chapter Seventeen, Text 39 TRANSLATION
The personality of Kali asked for something more, and because of
his begging, the King gave him permission to live where there is gold
because wherever there is gold there is also falsity, intoxication,
lust, envy and enmity.
PURPORT
Although Maharaja Pariksit gave Kali permission to live in four
places, it was very difficult for him to find the places because during
the reign of Maharaja Pariksit there were no such places. Therefore
Kali asked the King to give him something practical which could be
utilized for his nefarious purposes. Maharaja Pariksit thus gave him
permission to live in a place where there is gold, because wherever
there is gold there are all the above-mentioned four things, and over
and above them there is enmity also. So the personality of Kali became
gold-standardized. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, gold encourages
falsity, intoxication, prostitution, envy and enmity.
Gold is certainly a generator of falsity,intoxication, prostitution,
enmity and violence, but under the guidance of a proper king or public
leader, or a brahmana or sannyasi, the same gold can be properly utilized
to reestablish the lost legs of the bull,the personality of religion.
Maharaja Pariksit, therefore, like his grandfather Arjuna,
collected all illicit gold kept for the propensities of Kali and
employed it in the sankirtana-yajna
(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
GOLD - Death
Once a sage was walking through the forest. He noticed a huge amount of gold lying in one place.
Having seen the huge amount of gold, he started running away from shouting
"Death!! Death !! - I have seen Death"
He was stopped by a group of four people and questioned.
"Why are you running so fast shouting "Death ... Death" ?
The sage replied "I have seen death - that is why I am running away from it"
The people asked "Can you please show us also death?"
The sage was not ready initially but upon their insistence - he agreed to show death to them.
The sage took them to the same place where he saw huge amount of gold lying in the forest and ran back.
The four people were exclaiming "This person is fool number one - there is so much gold and one can enjoy life
but the poor man calls it death - what kind a fool is he"
Having seen the Gold - the four people made a plan.
"Let us divide this honestly and lead a very happy life."
In the mean time, they were all feeling very tired and hungry. So it was decided that 2 of them will go to nearby village and get some food for eating.
While the two were away to get the food - the other two started thinking
Akshaya Tritiya: In the famous epic of Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were in exile, Lord Krishna gave Draupadi a bowl called Akshaya Pathram. The word Akshaya means "never diminishes." Pathram means bowl/vessel/utensil. Every time they were hungry, all they had to do was to turn the bowl upwards to the sky and they would get food. This supply of food was endless. With this in mind, people buy gold, silver or platinum so that their valuables are replenished endlessly.
There is so much advertising / campaigning by the jewellery shops, banks inducing customers to buy GOLD.
But please see below some quotes from Sastra about GOLD and its accumulation.
At the outset, please do not mistake that devotees are against GOLD - everything has its utility. GOLD if employed in the service of the Lord then it is the best utilization. But if it is used for our own sense gratification then it causes all the evil effects.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1: Chapter Seventeen, Text 39 TRANSLATION
The personality of Kali asked for something more, and because of
his begging, the King gave him permission to live where there is gold
because wherever there is gold there is also falsity, intoxication,
lust, envy and enmity.
PURPORT
Although Maharaja Pariksit gave Kali permission to live in four
places, it was very difficult for him to find the places because during
the reign of Maharaja Pariksit there were no such places. Therefore
Kali asked the King to give him something practical which could be
utilized for his nefarious purposes. Maharaja Pariksit thus gave him
permission to live in a place where there is gold, because wherever
there is gold there are all the above-mentioned four things, and over
and above them there is enmity also. So the personality of Kali became
gold-standardized. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, gold encourages
falsity, intoxication, prostitution, envy and enmity.
Gold is certainly a generator of falsity,intoxication, prostitution,
enmity and violence, but under the guidance of a proper king or public
leader, or a brahmana or sannyasi, the same gold can be properly utilized
to reestablish the lost legs of the bull,the personality of religion.
Maharaja Pariksit, therefore, like his grandfather Arjuna,
collected all illicit gold kept for the propensities of Kali and
employed it in the sankirtana-yajna
(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Even a fraction of the duration of life wasted cannot be compensated by any amount of gold. Human life is simply awarded to a living entity (jiva) so that he can realize his spiritual identity and his permanent source of happiness.
Once a sage was walking through the forest. He noticed a huge amount of gold lying in one place.
Having seen the huge amount of gold, he started running away from shouting
"Death!! Death !! - I have seen Death"
He was stopped by a group of four people and questioned.
"Why are you running so fast shouting "Death ... Death" ?
The sage replied "I have seen death - that is why I am running away from it"
The people asked "Can you please show us also death?"
The sage was not ready initially but upon their insistence - he agreed to show death to them.
The sage took them to the same place where he saw huge amount of gold lying in the forest and ran back.
The four people were exclaiming "This person is fool number one - there is so much gold and one can enjoy life
but the poor man calls it death - what kind a fool is he"
Having seen the Gold - the four people made a plan.
"Let us divide this honestly and lead a very happy life."
In the mean time, they were all feeling very tired and hungry. So it was decided that 2 of them will go to nearby village and get some food for eating.
While the two were away to get the food - the other two started thinking
"Let us eliminate these two and we will divide the gold into 2 parts & enjoy"
The people who went out get the food started thinking
"Now we two are here - let us kill the other two and we two will enjoy the gold - thinking that way - they added poison to the food"
As soon the two people entered the place with food - the waiting people attacked them severely and killed them.
Having killed they thought - "Let us eat some food and get energy and then carry the gold back home"
They ate the poisoned food and they too died shortly.
Moral: Gold (used for sense gratification) corrupts the mind and makes one commit any kind of sinful activity.
PS: I humbly request all the devotees to please forward moral / instructive stories they hear so that everyone can be benefited.
So let use this Akshaya Tritiya auspicious day to increase our devotion to Lord Sri Krishna, increase our quota of reading Srila Prabhupada's books, improve our chanting and hearing - which are more valuable than any amount of GOLD.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2: Chapter Three, Text 17
ayur barati vai pumsam udyann astam ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-ksano nita uttama-sloka-vartaya
TRANSLATION
Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
This verse indirectly confirms the greater importance of utilizing the human form of life to realize our lost
relationship with the Supreme Lord by acceleration of devotional service. Time and tide wait for no man. So the time indicated by the sunrise and the sunset will be uselessly wasted if such time is not properly utilized for realizing identification of spiritual values.
The people who went out get the food started thinking
"Now we two are here - let us kill the other two and we two will enjoy the gold - thinking that way - they added poison to the food"
As soon the two people entered the place with food - the waiting people attacked them severely and killed them.
Having killed they thought - "Let us eat some food and get energy and then carry the gold back home"
They ate the poisoned food and they too died shortly.
Moral: Gold (used for sense gratification) corrupts the mind and makes one commit any kind of sinful activity.
PS: I humbly request all the devotees to please forward moral / instructive stories they hear so that everyone can be benefited.
So let use this Akshaya Tritiya auspicious day to increase our devotion to Lord Sri Krishna, increase our quota of reading Srila Prabhupada's books, improve our chanting and hearing - which are more valuable than any amount of GOLD.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2: Chapter Three, Text 17
ayur barati vai pumsam udyann astam ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-ksano nita uttama-sloka-vartaya
TRANSLATION
Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
This verse indirectly confirms the greater importance of utilizing the human form of life to realize our lost
relationship with the Supreme Lord by acceleration of devotional service. Time and tide wait for no man. So the time indicated by the sunrise and the sunset will be uselessly wasted if such time is not properly utilized for realizing identification of spiritual values.
Even a fraction of the duration of life wasted cannot be compensated by any amount of gold. Human life is simply awarded to a living entity (jiva) so that he can realize his spiritual identity and his permanent source of happiness.
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