Poverty

[pslvax!sadhu at UCSD.EDU]

/ FROM:  "James L. Fitzgerald" <UTKVM1.UTK.EDU!PA114508 at ucsd.UUCP>, Aug 23 20:44 1995
| ABOUT: Re: Poverty
|
| >Dominik writes:
| >* It is another fact of Sanskrit, Tamil and other classical Indian
| >* literature that poverty is rarely, if ever, glamorized or treated as
| >* metaphor, in the manner in which Sadhunathan has done.
| >

Yes, a fascinating thread, to be sure.

Lest anyone think I'm advocating poverty, I'm not!  

And perhaps I should have taken more care to differentiate between
poverty and renunciation, but in any case, the original thought behind
the posting of the editorial on poverty was to show a difference in
perspective, East vs West.

But in response to the above, here is some classical Tamil literature
to enjoy regarding poverty, begging, and renunciation, from the Kural.
I think pretty much everyone would agree with it.

-Sadhunathan



     Poverty

     Verse 1041

     Ask what is more miserable than being poor 
     And the answer comes-only poverty pains like poverty.

     Verse 1042

     Poverty, the cruelest of demons, deprives a man 
     Of every joy in this life as well as the next.

     Verse 1043

     That poison called poverty will destroy at once 
     The honor of ancient descent and the refinement of speech.

     Verse 1044

     Privation produces unmindfulness which gives birth 
     To improper words, even in men of proper birth.

     Verse 1045

     This one affliction called poverty 
     Brings in its train a multitude of miseries.

     Verse 1046

     The poor may perceive profoundly and speak skillfully, 
     Yet their meaningful words are always forgotten.

     Verse 1047

     Poverty, destitute of all virtue, estranges a man 
     Even from the mother who bore him.

     Verse 1048

     Will wretched poverty which is kiling me so 
     Come again today as of yesterday?

     Verse 1049

     Men may slumber even in the midst of fire, 
     But none can find repose in poverty's presence.

     Verse 1050

     Having become fatally impoverished, let a man fully renounce, 
     Lest he fatally exhaust his neighbor's vinegar and salt.

     Begging

     Verse 1051

     If you meet a man of means, you may beg his help.  
     If he refuses, the fault is his, not yours.

     Verse 1052

     Even begging can prove pleasurable 
     When what is begged for comes without a sense of burden.

     Verse 1053

     Begging has its own beauty if one supplicates 
     Before dutiful men whose hearts never say no.

     Verse 1054

     There are men who never deny a request even in a dream.  
     Begging from such men is as good as giving.

     Verse 1055

     Because men do exist on earth who never begrudge giving, 
     Others dare to plead before men's gaze.

     Verse 1056

     The evils of begging will flee at the mere sight 
     Of those who are free from the evil of refusal.

     Verse 1057

     There is rejoicing in a jubilant heart 
     Upon seeing those who give without scoffing or scorning.

     Verse 1058

     Deprived of its beggars, this vast and verdant earth 
     Would be reduced to a sphere for the wooden play of puppets.

     Verse 1059

     What glory would generous men have 
     If there were none to beg and receive their gifts?

     Verse 1060

     One who begs and is refused should not be angry 
     For his own poverty is sufficient proof.
     

     Dread of Begging

     Verse 1061

     It is ten million times better not to beg, even from those 
     Precious few who find joy in generosity and thus never refuse.

     Verse 1062

     Were it the world's Creator who wished men to live by begging, 
     Men might well wish that He Himself also die a wanderer.

     Verse 1063

     There is no greater foolhardiness than saying to oneself, "I shall
     End the pains of poverty by begging."

     Verse 1064

     The entire world is too small to contain the dignity of men 
     Who stoop not to beg even in the midst of destitution.

     Verse 1065

     Though it is only gruel thin as water, nothing is more savory 
     Than the food that is earned by the labor of one's hands.

     Verse 1066

     The tongue finds nothing more distasteful than begging 
     Even to simply plead for the cow's drinking water.

     Verse 1067

     This I beg of all beggers, "If beg you must, beg not from misers."

     Verse 1068

     The unsturdy ship called begging will break apart 
     The moment it crashes against the rock of refusal.

     Verse 1069

     Thoughts of the beggar's plight must melt one's heart, 
     But thoughts of refusals he receives crushes it completely.

     Verse 1070

     Is there any place a miser can safely hide 
     When inside him resounds the word "no" which slays beggars?


     Greatness of Renunciates

     Verse 21

     The scriptures exalt above every other good 
     The greatness of virtuous renunciates.

     Verse 22

     Attempting to speak of the renunciate's magnitude 
     Is akin to measuring the human multitudes who have ever died.

     Verse 23

     Behold those who have weighed the dual nature of things and
     followed The renunciate's way. Their greatness illumines the
     world.

     Verse 24

     He whose firm will, wisdom's goading hook, controls his five senses 
     Is a seed that will flourish in the fields of heaven.

     Verse 25

     So great is the power of those who subdue the five senses, even Indra, 
     Sovereign of spacious heaven's celestials, suffered their curse.

     Verse 26

     The great ones are they who can dispatch the most
     Difficult tasks; the small ones are they who cannot.

     Verse 27

     Touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing- 
     He who controls these five magically controls the world.

     Verse 28

     Their own secret sayings reveal to the world 
     The greatness of men whose words prove prophetic.

     Verse 29

     It is impossible to endure even a moment's wrath of those 
     Who have scaled and stand upon the mountain called virtue.

     Verse 30

     Renunciates are called the priestly ones 
     For they are clothed in robes of compassion for all life.


     Renunciation

     Verse 341

     Whatsoever a man has renounced,
     From the sorrow born of that he has freed himself.

     Verse 342

     After a man has renounced, he enjoys the many true things in this 
     World.  Let men desiring that renounce in time.

     Verse 343

     The five senses must be subdued 
     And every desire simultaneously surrendered.

     Verse 344

     The mendicant's poverty permits not a single possession, 
     For possessions draws him back into delusion.

     Verse 345

     What are life's petty attachments to the man who seeks severance
     From future births, when even his body is a burden?

     Verse 346

     He who slays the conceit which clamors "I" and "mine" 
     Will enter a realm above the celestials' world.

     Verse 347

     If one clings to his attachments, refusing to let go, 
     Sorrows will not let go their grip on him.

     Verse 348

     Those who renounce totally reach the highest peak; 
     The rest remain ensnared in delusions net.

     Verse 349

     Birth ceases when all attachments are severed; 
     Otherwise, one beholds unceasingly the transitoriness of life.

     Verse 350

     Attach yourself to Him who is free from all attachments.  Bind
     yourself to that bond in order that all other bonds may be
     broken.