Hard Struggle for Happiness 19

Wealth is worshiped and is referred to as Mother
Laksmi, or the goddess of fortune. It is her position
to serve Lord Narayana, the source of all the naras,
or living beings. The naras are also meant to serve
Narayana under the guidance of the goddess of
fortune. The living being cannot enjoy the goddess
of fortune without serving Narayana, and therefore
whoever desires to enjoy her wrongly will be punished
by the laws of nature. These laws will make certain
that the money itself will bring about destruction in-
stead of peace and prosperity.

Unlawfully accumulated money is now being
snatched from miserly citizens by various methods
of state taxation for the future civil and international
war fund, which is spending money in a wasteful and
destructive manner. The citizens are no longer
satisfied with just enough money to maintain a family
nicely and cultivate spiritual knowledge, both of
which are essential in human life. Now everyone
wants money unlimitedly to satisfy insatiable desires.
In proportion to the people’s unlawful desires, their
accumulated money is taken away by the agents of
illusory energy in the shape of medical practitioners,
lawyers, tax collectors, societies, constitutions, so-
called holy men, famines, earthquakes, and many
similar calamities. One miser who hesitated to pur-
chase a copy of Back to Godhead spent $2,000 for
a week’s supply of medicine and then died. Another
man who refused to spend a cent for the service of
the Lord wasted thousands of dollars in a legal suit
between the members of his home. There are
innumerable similar instances occasioned by the
