Continuing his journey to Varanasi, Richard stopped at Agra and visited the Taj Mahal, a seventeenth-century tomb glorified as one of the wonders of the world. He admired the monumental marble structure, and read a booklet on its history. A Mogul King had built the structure in memory of his wife, employing twenty thousand workmen and craftsmen. The structure took twenty two years to complete, and the hands of the gifted craftsmen were severed to assure they would never duplicate this monument. However one of the king’s sons usurped the kingdom, imprisoned his own father and killed his brothers.
Richard tried to make sense of it all, wondering how after such a magnificent construction, the king only suffered miserably, as his family battled and murdered one another.
“Such is the pitiful consequence of greed for power. In the heart that harbors the weed of selfish greed, the flower of love cannot survive. To conquer one’s envy, lust, and greed, now that is truly monumental.”
While three hundred fifty years have passed since greed blinded these rulers to kill for power, even today greed destroys people. Mr Hansie Cronje, the captain of the South African cricket team met a similar fate. His ambitions soared high as he revolutionized cricketing strategies. As the South African team reigned supreme, millions of dollars poured in, bringing Hansie unprecedented fame and wealth. But he wanted more and secretly tied up with the bookies. Suddenly one day he was exposed in a disgraceful match fixing scandal, and while cricket lovers felt betrayed, Hansie’s life dramatically changed overnight and from a hero he had become a villain. Few years ago, an air crash ended the 36-year-old’s nightmarish life; a heroic saga transforming and culminating in a tragic and premature end.
Radhanath Swami explains the cause of greed in human society, “A man becomes greedy for wealth and power when he has no higher objective in life and when he thinks that this earthly life of a few years is all in all.” Convinced that life is merely a combination of various chemicals, man seeks to go all out, giving in to the urges of body and mind. Fulfilling these baser instincts necessitates exploiting both the scarce resources and precious lives of others. As self-centered individuals come together, behind the veil of social norms and courtesies, there’s plotting to topple the other. When selfish greed takes precedence over God centered values, strife and ego clashes are inevitable. Radhanath Swami therefore implores us to engage our precious time, energy and wealth for self-realization rather than self-aggrandizement.
Quoting ancient scriptures, Radhanath Swami says that since human life is meant for inquiring about the Absolute Truth, that alone should be the goal of our life. The loving propensity towards God has to be reawakened in the burning hearts of modern society. The overwhelming power of love washes off all selfish desires to enjoy at the cost of others. Experiencing deep inner peace and satisfaction, a spiritualist becomes unshaken by the temptations of greed. He only seeks to serve and please the Lord.
Radhanath Swami encourages us to be greedy to love and serve God, “A devotee’s ever expanding greed for service to God adds to his spiritual wealth. This wealth and greed is desirable for it not only purifies us of all material contamination, it also helps us achieve real peace and well being in society.”
Table of Contents
Founder-acharya of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
“Go to India” a sweet but commanding voice; spoke up in the heart of young Richard (later Radhanath Swami) who was immersed in meditation, his search for meaning in life has brought him to the Isle of Crete. Today he was ordered to go to India. Born and raised in the middle class suburbs of Chicago, Radhanath swami grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s era when popular musicians protested war, prejudice and social injustice. Radhanath swami would listen to these songs again and again, but their lyrics referring to God stirred his soul. Peter, Paul and Mary- the folk trio from Greenswich village sang in their debut album
“Early in the morning, about the break of day
I ask the Lord, to help me find my way”
This simple prayer was to guide Radhanath swami in the coming years of his life........
Very true, if we belive that everything will finsih at the time of death then its very difficult to overcome our anarthas.
View CommentIts amazing – how as humans without a Spiritual culture we are wasting life.
The same greed that we use to cause trouble to ourselves and the people in this world when guided by an exalted Spiritualist like Radhanath Swami can bring the most wonderful transformation in our lives and people around us.
View Comment“To conquer one’s envy, lust, and greed, now that is truly monumental.” This deep realisation of Radhanath Swami really touches the heart. As Radhanath Swami stresses the need of God centered life rather than self centered life would surely give solution to all problems and miseries of the world.
View CommentIt teaches us how to conquer our materaial desires and Serve the lord & devotees unconditionally.
View CommentRadhanath Swami encourages us to be greedy to love and serve God, for this wealth and greed not only purifies us of all material contamination, it also helps us achieve real peace and well being in society.
View CommentSuch a deep realization on the Taj Mahal’s history, how many of us would actually have felt the deep learning hidden in this historical monument?
View CommentThanks Maharaj!
Most people admire the Taj Mahal and never think so deep about the suffering of the people associated with its construction. What a beautiful realization – to conquer envy, lust, and greed is monumental!
View CommentNice Article!!! Thanks for sharing
View CommentRadhanath Swami has such wonderful realisations.hare krishna
View CommentThank you Maharaj for such a nice book Journey Home which is inspiring for all the people of this world.
View CommentSo true…Radhanath swami so nicely stating how greed causes so much problem and how to get rid of it .. by engaging in the service of Lord.
View CommentThe greed to serve, Radhanath Swami’s this greed is also mentioned nicely here: http://socialfront.in/making-better-citizens-index/3-radhanathswami-hankers-service.html
View CommentThis is revolutionary!!! Even our greed can be utilized in the service of God
View Comment“Such is the pitiful consequence of greed for power. In the heart that harbors the weed of selfish greed, the flower of love cannot survive. To conquer one’s envy, lust, and greed, now that is truly monumental.” This contemplation by Radhanath swami on Taj mahal is very instructing.
View Comment“True monumental thing means conquering lust, anger etc. in our heart” amazing point from Radhanth swami. Thank you.
View CommentWonderful realization. Only a pure heart can come to this stage.
View CommentIn the material world, the more we have, the more greedy we become. And this ultimately leads to lust, anger & envy. But in the spiritual realm, Radhanath Swami says, greed to serve other devotees of God is essential for spiritual progress and it brings us tremendous & everlasting bliss & happiness.
View CommentRadhanath Swami gives a very powerful message “In the heart that harbors the weed of selfish greed, the flower of love cannot survive.’
View CommentOnly a person like Radhanath swami who is free from greed can free us from greed
View CommentThank u Radhanath swami ur revolutionary instruction will hold the entire world.kindly keep us at ur lotusfeet always swamiji.Thank u.
View CommentIf a small percentage of the world were to follow even one instruction of Radhanath Swami, the world would become a much better place
View CommentThank you for posting this nice article about the biggest problem in human society today – Greed. Radhanath Swami, with his powerful words, can transform the hearts of people – transforming them from material greed to spiritual greed.
View CommentOvercoming the negative tendencies in heart is much more satisfying and munumental than any of the external achievements. A million thanks to Radhanath Swami for inspiring everyone to follow this invaluable lesson.
View CommentI FEEL SO LIGHTER AFTER READING THIS ARTICLS
View CommentGreat Wisdom – “In the heart that harbors the weed of selfish greed, the flower of love cannot survive. To conquer one’s envy, lust, and greed, now that is truly monumental” – Thanks a lot Radhanath Swami Maharaj for sharing this nectar.
View Comment“A man becomes greedy for wealth and power when he has no higher objective in life and when he thinks that this earthly life of a few years is all in all.”
View CommentA PERFECT OBSERVATION!
wonderful article,thank you
View CommentGreed is the root cause of so many problems in this world today. As Radhanath Swami says unless we have a higher objective in life it is difficult to give up these lower attachments & we shall remain greedy for petty things.
View Commentjust too amazing a realisation, HHRM at his best, regards, bhakti
View Commentvery inspiring article, RADHANATH MAHARAJ KI JAI! rajesh
View CommentGreed in itself is not wrong but the intention behind that greed is important. Thank you Radhanath Swami for beautifully explaining this difference.
View CommentWonderful explanation of greed by Radhanath Swami.
View CommentRadhanath Maharaj very nicely explains how we can dovetail even our lowest nature of “being greedy” to become God conscious. He says you can become greedy to serve God !! Thank you.
View Commentthank you Maharaj for this beautiful book to the world at the most needed time!
View CommentYes, very true.
View CommentIgnorance brings distress. Here Radhanath Swami warns his followers not to be greedy for materialism but for spiritualism. thanks a lot. All glories to Radhanath Swami
View CommentIn this day &age when greed is the pivot around which the entire world revolves–leaders like Radhanath swami who give such genuine message are really needed
View CommentGreed is unending, the more you have the more you want. This material fire for more and more possessions can be put out only by following a spiritual path under the guidance of such saintly people as Radhanath Swami.
View CommentTook me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be very useful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! i’m sure you had joy writing this article
View Commentvery meaningful article, one must have greed to serve the lord, the supreme personality of Godhead, bhakti
View Commentamazing article, very effective and thought provoking, hari hari, rajesh karia
View Commentwonderful article on the greed and its effect. also the way to spiritualize it for our own benefit is wonderful.
I liked in particular below part by Radhanath Swami Maharaj:
“A devotee’s ever expanding greed for service to God adds to his spiritual wealth. This wealth and greed is desirable for it not only purifies us of all material contamination, it also helps us achieve real peace and well being in society.”
View CommentNice presentation of greed by Radhanath Swami and how to dovetail the same in Lord’s service. The material greed devours everyone and the only way to protect it is to dovetail it.
View CommentNice thoughts about greed by Radhanath Swami. This is very important for us to understand that this enemy of us (ie. greed) devours all of our good qualities and once we are bereft of these qualities, there is nothing we can do to uplift our spiritual consciousness and serve the Lord and His devotees.
View CommentA very deep truth some of our politicians/other owners of Swiss Bank with thousands of crores dont understand. Why do you need this kind of money – wrongly taken away from the nation – where millions are struggling to eat 2 meals? Will you take it with you when you die? How much do you need to live a comfortable/luxurious life?
View CommentRadhanath swami helps us achieve real peace and well being in society by dovetailing our greedy nature in the love & service of the GOD.
View Comment