Money Matters. But It Was Never the Villain.
After reading my previous article ( Read here ) on finding happiness, I got comments concluding that I was promoting poverty or suggesting that money is unimportant. Well, that was never the message.
If anything, such a conclusion reflects one of the very misconceptions the article was trying to address: the tendency to view money and happiness as competing ideas, as though acknowledging the limits of one requires rejecting the other.
It does not.
Money is indispensable. It is one of the greatest enablers of a dignified human life. It provides food, shelter, healthcare, education, security, and opportunities. It allows us to fulfill responsibilities toward our families and contribute to society. In today’s world, a complete disregard for wealth is neither practical nor wise. Money gives us the freedom of choice. The choice of how we want to spend our time and hence life!
The question, therefore, is not whether money is important.
The question is: What role should money play in our lives?
Even the Scriptures Never Condemned Wealth
A common misconception is that spirituality demands poverty. Our scriptures say otherwise.
The Indian tradition recognizes Artha (wealth) as one of the four Purusharthas—the legitimate goals of human life, alongside Dharma (righteousness), Kama (legitimate desires), and Moksha (liberation).
Notice the order.
Wealth is not rejected. It is encouraged.
But it is placed under the guidance of Dharma.
The Mahabharata, the Arthashastra, and countless other texts discuss governance, trade, economics, taxation, and prosperity in remarkable detail. Kings were expected to build prosperous kingdoms. Householders were expected to earn honestly and support society through charity, employment, and service.
Even the Bhagavad Gita does not ask Arjuna to abandon action or responsibility. It asks him to perform his duty without becoming internally enslaved by the fruits of action.
The problem has never been wealth.
The problem has always been attachment with the wealth.
If you read through Hindu scriptures, you will find multiple stories about how wealth was not abhorred, but rather wealth accumulated through unethical, non-dharmic ways was.
Money is the fuel
A beautiful analogy which one I listed in one of the religiuos sermons is this.
The role of money in life is like that of petrol in a vehicle.
No sensible person would say petrol is unnecessary. Without it, the vehicle cannot move. The journey becomes impossible.
But imagine filling a car entirely with petrol and leaving no room for passengers, luggage, or even the driver.
The vehicle would become useless.
Petrol is essential because it enables the journey.
It is not the journey itself.
Likewise, money powers life. It enables education, healthcare, travel, business, philanthropy, comfort, and countless worthwhile pursuits.
But if accumulating money becomes the sole purpose of life, then life gradually begins revolving around the fuel rather than the destination.
We start measuring success only through income, possessions, or status, forgetting to ask a much deeper question:
Where is this vehicle actually going?
The Trap Is Not Wealth. It Is Exclusivity.
One misunderstanding of the previous article was that it portrayed desire itself as wrong.
Desire is natural.
Without desire, civilizations would never progress.
The desire to learn, build, innovate, serve, or create is what drives humanity forward.
The issue arises when our happiness becomes conditional upon fulfilling every desire.
We tell ourselves,
“Once I get this promotion…”
“Once I buy this house…”
“Once I reach this income…”
Then, almost immediately after achieving it, another condition quietly appears.
The destination keeps moving.
Money can satisfy many needs.
It can even fulfill many wants.
But it cannot permanently silence the mind’s tendency to create newer wants.
That mechanism operates independently of one’s bank balance.
History is filled with wealthy individuals who lived with constant anxiety and poor individuals who lived with remarkable contentment. Likewise, there have been wealthy people who were deeply peaceful and poor people consumed by bitterness.
Neither wealth nor poverty determines the state of the mind.
Wealth Solves Many Problems: But Not Every Problem
It would be unreasonable to deny the tremendous value of money.
Financial security removes enormous stress.
It gives freedom from uncertainty.
It allows access to better healthcare.
It improves quality of life.
It protects families from crises.
Anyone who has struggled financially understands how valuable these things are.
Yet there are certain human experiences before which money reaches its limit.
The death of a loved one.
A broken relationship.
Existential emptiness.
Fear of mortality.
Guilt.
Loneliness.
Loss of meaning.
No amount of wealth can simply purchase immunity from these realities.
Money remains extraordinarily powerful.
It is simply not omnipotent.
Recognizing its limits does not diminish its importance.
It merely places it in its proper category.
A Balanced View of Life
A wise person does not need to choose between material prosperity and inner growth.
Wise person earns wealth, build businesses, pursues excellence, provide for the family, creates opportunities for others, donates generously, and lives comfortably all at the same time.
There is nothing unspiritual about any of these.
But while earning money, do not unknowingly hand over your peace of mind to it.
The key is to use wealth as a tool instead of allowing it to become your identity.
The vehicle certainly needs petrol.
The mistake is believing that life consists only of filling the tank.
A meaningful journey requires a destination, fellow travelers, purpose, wisdom, and ultimately, a peaceful driver behind the wheel.
Until next time….