So far as Lobha is concerned..........

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So far as Lobha is concerned, it is excessive greed and is looked down upon even

in an ordinary person, and much more in a person who aims at spiritual uplift.

But so far as Nana was concerned, Lobha does not appear to have been a defect in

his character. In any case, Lobha is only an exaggeration of one's attachment to

moneys and goods. Baba took very good care to see that Nanas attachment did not

reach excessive heights. Baba adopted his usual methods for this purpose. It is

â 'Dana' that is the exact opposite of, and, therefore, the antitode for, the

venom called attachment or greed. This truth comes from even the date of the

Brihadaranyaka. Prajapati was approached by his three sets of children, the

Devas, the Naras, and the Asuras. Each of these came and said, ˜Please give us

instruction as to what we should do " . Prajapati answered. ˜Da, Da, Da, to each

of these. In the case of the gods, the ˜Da' required for them was Dama that is,

self-control, moderation. In the case of the Asuras, the ˜Da' required was Daya,

i.e. mercy. Their excessive cruel nature had to be met by the spirit of

compassion, which was the antidote for their cruelty. In the case of men, the

˜Da' was ˜Daana' i.e, charity. Mans natural instinct is to grasp, to be greedy,

and to get more and more, and the best way of checking this greed is by making

man give up all that he has got. Daana forces a man to part with his money, etc.

and by constant parting, he will get accustomed to feel quite nonchalant, quite

unaffected while parting with moneys or when moneys are lost. Thus ˜Da' (Daana)

is the recipe given to men as the rule of their life by Prajapati.

 

The importance of eradicating greed from ones nature may be seen from the

simplest and one of the best of all the 108 Upanishads-viz., lsavasya Upanishad,

so much praised by Mahatma Gandhi. In the very first verse of this Upanishad,

the order is given, Ma Gridhah Kasyasvid Danam. That is, Covet not wealth

whosesoever it may be. Or it may be translated thus, ˜Covet not; whose is

wealth? This means, what is your wealth today is mine tomorrow and somebody

elses on the third day. So there is nothing fixed about wealth, and one need not

concern oneself so much about this fleeting possession. Therefore, Daana has

been specially insisted upon not only in the Vedas and Upanishads (dakshina is

prescribed for all the rituals) but also by Baba in his daily practice. Baba the

Soul of Vairagya never cared to ask for moneys in the beginning. But when

visitors began to rush upon him in crowds, in hundreds, he began to ask for

dakshina, which had

various meanings and explanations. One way of keeping out undesirable people,

the over-greedy people who think of nothing except money is to ask for dakshina.

A lawyer, who went to see Baba when alive, noted that he, a lawyer, accustomed

to get money from others, was being asked to pay money to Baba. So he felt

repelled and never again visited Baba during his life time. That is evidently

one of the ideas underlying Baba's demand in some cases. In many other cases

also, the demand of dakshina serves the purpose of reducing attachment. In the

case of Nana, Baba used to demand off and on various sums, and so Nana was

accustomed to take with him large sums like Rs. 300 or Rs. 400 whenever he

visited Shirdi. Whenever Baba asked for money, Nana would give him money. This

constant giving of money to Baba would naturally reduce his attachment to

wealth.