"Wealth is the horrible cave where the serpents of sorrow dwell. Wealth is the vast mountain valley where the elephants of delusion roam about. The noble propensities in man gradually fade away with the coming of wealth, just as the lotus fades away when darkness envelops the earth.

Wealth is the moonlight which makes the night lily of sorrow blossom. Wealth is the furious gust of wind which puts out the flame of right understanding."
 

— Yoga Vasistha
 

"Cherished by Yajna, the Devas shall bestow on you the enjoyments you desire." A thief verily is he who enjoys what is given by them without returning them anything.
 

The good who eat the remains of Yajna are freed from all sins: but the sinful ones who cook food only for themselves, they verily eat sin."
 

— The Bhagwad Gita (Chap. 3 Shlokas 12 and 13)
 

The seekers or keepers of wealth are more often possessed rather than its possessors.

All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose."

"I suggest that we are thieves in a way. If I take anything that I do not need for my own immediate use, and keep it, I thieve it from somebody else. I venture to suggest that it is the fundamental law of Nature, without exception, that Nature produces enough for our wants for day-to-day, and if only everybody took enough for himself and nothing more, there would be no pauperism in this world, there would be no man dying of starvation in this world."

— Mahatma Gandhi
 

"This thing must be put bluntly, every man who has more than is necessary for his livelihood and that of his family, and for the normal development of his intelligence, is a thief and a robber. If he has too much, it means that others have too little."

Wealth & Trusteeship
 

All of us have been born on this earth, with a particular object, with a definite purpose. That purpose or the object is to serve the humanity. To make this world more beautiful, to make it a better place to live in. In whatever activities we may be engaged in, the object must be to serve fellow human beings. When we came here, we brought nothing with us, nor on death we would be taking with us anything. So, nothing really belongs to us. As such, whatever that comes in our possession, is only in the capacity of a trustee, the society and the human being, the beneficiaries of this trust. Not even our body belongs to us. even that, we hold in trust to serve the humanity.
 

As such, everything belongs to the society. Whatever we are keeping as our own, is really held by us for the overall benefit of the society. Money or wealth cannot be an exception to this rule of trusteeship. Any money, which is in excess of what is required to sustain ourselves and to meet out basic necessities, is to be used for the benefit of others, to help and assist the ones who have not even sufficient to meet their basic necessities like food and shelter. Therefore, any wealth owned by us if not used for the benefit of others, would constitute a breach of trust, a crime in the spiritual dictionary.
 

Any person who has committed a crime or a sin, to his knowledge can he live in peace? He, just cannot. Whether he is caught or not, his conscience knows that he is guilty. One can smartly cheat anybody, but he cannot cheat his own conscience. His conscience constantly bites him and, therefore, he cannot have peace of mind and in the absence of peace, acquisition of huge wealth and property cannot bring him happiness.
 

Do you think the rich men, particularly those who have acquired wealth by unfair means, could be happy?. Certainly not. Whether our laws declare or punish them as criminals or as wrong doers, certainly the law of nature punishes them. First of all, as punishment the person will be deprived of mental peace and of happiness. He becomes restless, he tries to acquire temporary happiness by indulging in sensual pleasures, which really lead to further troubles. He is always worried about losing his money, of which he otherwise also will be deprived of by having bad children, thefts and in case of illgotten money, the State stepping in to deprive him of his wealth. As such, it is well said that, only that which you give is yours and what you accumulate is not yours. Accumulated wealth is compared to a bee hive, as honey kept by the bees in a bee hive, is taken away by somebody, so the accumulated wealth will also be taken away from you. Even in respect of your children, as Poet Tulsidas writes, if the children are good, they do not require your money and if they are bad, they will misuse it, so what is the use of accumulation of wealth? asks Tulsidas. One thing is certain, that the law of nature is such, that what does not belong to you or what is given to you for the use of others is not so used, will never remain with you. The nature by one way or the other will deprive the person of the wealth which he has kept with him with no moral right to keep it. It is well said that Laxmi with Narayan will give you all kinds of happiness and peace of mind. Here, Narayan represents "Dharma" that is wealth acquired by legitimate and fair means and used for the purpose for which it is meant, will bring you a lot of happiness and peace. But Laxmi without Narayan is very dangerous, that is if the wealth is acquired, not by rightful or fair means. or it is not used for the purpose of which it is meant, Laxmi will kick such person and will walk away.

The issue can be considered from another angle. It is the law of the nature that what you give comes back with greater force. If you give money or use it for a charitable purpose for helping the needy, the money so spent will come back ten-fold. It is the law of nature, in fact, what you give, comes back. Take for example, if you love others, others will return the love. As against that, if you cheat others, some others will cheat you. If you behave harshly with others, they will reply with equal, if not more harshness. It is the law of nature, that whatever you give good or bad, like love or hatred, sympathy or cruelty, praise or criticism, will boomerang upon you, it returns with more force.
 

It is well said that wealth has three facets, its use, giving or destruction. As such, it is said that if the money is not used or given away it will disappear.
 

The choice is ours. Do we want happiness and peace of mind or wealth? We cannot have both. If we want happiness or peace of mind, we cannot accumulate wealth. If we want to be wealthy with all kinds of acquisitions, we will have to pay a heavy price of happiness and peace of mind.