August 29, 2026

The Price Of More

Consider wealth as bringing only misery. There is not even a trace of happiness in it. The wealthy man fears even his own son. This is the way of wealth everywhere.

Adi Shankaracharya was an eighth-century philosopher who traveled across India reviving Advaita Vedanta through debate and teaching. Tradition holds he composed this hymn after passing an old scholar still drilling grammar rules on his deathbed, lost in trivial pursuits while death approached unnoticed. Here he warns that wealth itself breeds anxiety rather than peace, since the rich must guard what they have even from those closest to them. In the Vedantic tradition this points toward santosha, contentment, as the real measure of wealth, cultivated by lowering desire rather than raising one's holdings. Practitioners are trained to notice the difference between the comfort of having enough and the restlessness of always wanting more.

A principle of Eastern Wisdom: Knowing What Is Enough →