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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 5, Ch. 26]
nipatati yatra ha vitta-graham pāpa-puruṣam dharmarāja-puruṣā vāyakā iva sarvato 'ṅgeṣu sūtraiḥ parivayanti.
yaḥ—any person who; tu—but; iha—in this world; vā—or; āḍhya- abhimatiḥ—proud because of wealth; ahaṅkṛtiḥ—egotistic; tiryak-prek- ṣaṇaḥ—whose vision is crooked; sarvataḥ abhiviśaṅkī—always fearful of being cheated by others, even by superiors; artha-vyaya-nāśa-cin- tayā—by the thought of expenditure and loss; pariśuṣyamāṇa—dried up; hṛdaya-vadanaḥ—his heart and face; nirvṛtim—happiness; anavagataḥ—not obtaining; grahaḥ—a ghost; iva—like; artham— wealth; abhirakṣati—protects; saḥ—he; ca—also; api—indeed; pretya—after dying; tat—of those riches; utpādana—of the earning; utkarṣaṇa—increasing; samrakṣaṇa—protecting; śamala-grahaḥ—ac- cepting the sinful activities; sūcīmukhe—named Sūcīmukha; narake— in the hell; nipatati—falls down; yatra—where; ha—indeed; vitta- graham—as a money-grabbing ghost; pāpa-puruṣam—very sinful man; dharmarāja-puruṣāḥ—the commanding men of Yamarāja; vāyakāḥ iva—like expert weavers; sarvataḥ—all over; aṅgeṣu—on the limbs of the body; sūtraiḥ—by threads; parivayanti—stitch.
TRANSLATION
One who in this world or this life is very proud of his wealth al- ways thinks, “I am so rich. Who can equal me?” His vision is twisted, and he is always afraid that someone will take his wealth. Indeed, he even suspects his superiors. His face and heart dry up at the thought of losing his wealth, and therefore he always looks like a wretched fiend. He is not in any way able to obtain actual happiness, and he does not know what it is to be free from anxiety. Because of the sinful things he does to earn money, augment his wealth and protect it, he is put into the hell called Sūcīmukha, where the officials of Yamarāja punish him by stitching thread through his entire body like weavers manufacturing cloth.
PURPORT
When one possesses more wealth than necessary, he certainly becomes very proud. This is the situation of men in modern civilization. Accord-