GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
lust and wealth. Many worldly people con- sider wealth as their heart's blood. But if you take too much care of wealth, perhaps one day it will go entirely out of your possession. In our country farmers build earthen embank- ments round their fields. Those who do not leave open any passage for water and take too much care of their embankments, invariably have theirs washed off first by the tremendous current of the water; but those who keep one side open, find that their fields become enriched with alluvial deposits and more fertile in the end. They make the best use of their riches who spend them in the service of the Lord and of holy sages. They reap good fruits of their wealth who give freely to the poor and needy and for the good of humanity. The Bhagavan continued: I cannot use any object that is given to me by physicians and medical practitioners who live upon the painful diseases of other people. However, it is dif- ferent with those physicians who are kind- hearted, charitable and unselfish.
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To destroy the pride and egotism of His dis-ciples, Sri Ramakrishna told them to wear the
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