Shloka 5

Man is essentially selfish and does things with expectations of something in return! Even intimate relations and dear and near ones are dependent or deferential towards the earning-saving member of the family – (meaning) one who is capable for earning or who  is rich and wealthy, earns the reverence, respect, power and is adored by others.

Although, this may be true from a materialistic point of view, it can be considered as an obstruction to one’s Spiritual progress, if one does not realize that riches are temporary or transitory and may desert/leave one at any time!

Human life loses its faculties and capacities as age catches up and all physical and intellectual capabilities wane or decline.  There is a nice quote in the text, “If money can purchase happiness, the absence of money can procure only sorrow!”

When one loses his capabilities or they wane with age, even the family members desist from speaking with that person. One should therefore live under no illusion that popularity, affection, consideration and reverence from others, is something permanent! One has to earn inner peace, tranquility and turn towards devotion to the Higher, “now” and “here”, when one is young and one’s faculties and mental efficiencies are at the peak!

One can seek success, fame and fortune. However, the main occupation of life should be the art of self-purification, the craftsmanship of seeking Perfection.

The text says, “The real achievement is to be gained in one’s own inner contemplations, so that even before the world comes to reject you, you can reject the world of activities and retire into a richer world of serener contemplation and more intense self-engagements.”