Pujya Bhaishri

You may be living in a bungalow which costs Rs.50 lakhs, driving in a car worth Rs.8 lakhs, wearing costly clothes, precious ornaments, wrist watches etc., Despite all these, let me assure you, that you cannot be labelled as materialistic. Living in luxury surely is not a sufficient reason to be labelled as materialist. For if that were the definition of being a materialist then the greatest materialist should have been Lord Krishna himself, because he lived in golden Dwarka, a golden palace. He used to eat from golden plates and dishes and wear the costliest clothes and ornaments. 

Can we say then that Lord Krishna's life was materialistic? Our traditional thinking says that one can be totally spiritual even while enjoying all the luxuries of life, e.g. living in a palace, driving in fancy cars, wearing expensive clothes and jewellery, etc. The only condition is that all these objects should be for our use, rather than due to our cravings for them. This is a very fine line of distinction and it has to be always kept in mind, since it is capable of converting a life from heaven to hell and vice-versa. Objects are necessary for human beings, but human lives should not be meant for objects. A person who believes that people are meant for objects is truly materialistic. Where objects are meant for people, I would not call it a material existence however luxurious it might be. I would still call it spiritual living. 

When Lord Krishna was about to leave for 'swadhaam' he was totally unattached to Dwarka. He had no qualms of leaving it. Instead he warned Uddhav and asked him to convey to the dwellers of Dwarka that it will get submerged into the sea in seven days and that they should leave it and move elsewhere. Lord Krishna had no kind of attachment whatsoever. 

Remember, one should utilise the materialistic objects but remain unattached to them. Don't get bound by the worldly things around you. Don't become like a fly, which sits on honey and gets stuck to it, instead be like a fly, which sits on sugar, which is as sweet as the honey but is unable to bind the fly to it.