Shankara propounded Advaita, considered as the best treatise on Vedanta. Having expounded such a sublime philosophy, why did Shankara author the Kanakadhara Stotram, a DIY to attain material wealth; I have often wondered.
People can add an alphabet to the name or wear a gemstone towards fulfilling their greed. If the attempts fail, as they often do, they can blame the resident expert who advised them. But, if the Kanakadhara Stotram were to fail, wouldn’t it be a slur on the divine philosopher. The thought used to nag me.
I found the clarification in one of the speeches of HH Paramacharyal of Kanchi.
The anecdote starts with Adi Shankara knocking at the poor brahmin’s door for his daily biksha. Impoverished to just a rotten nellikai in the house, the Brahmin couple are embarrassed by their inability to oblige. Finally, for want of a better choice, they part with the nellikai with great discomfiture. Most raconteurs stop the anecdote at this point when Shankara, in benign appreciation, chants the Kanakadhara Stotram and the skies open up to shower gold coins.
Paramacharyal beseeches us to understand this ‘miracle’ in context. Gods shower wealth on those who pray, not for stockpiling but, for becoming a worthwhile conduit to the needy. In that sense, people who assume the role of ‘dispenser of wealth’ as their life’s calling will be blessed with abundant flow of wealth to assist them in their charitable dispositions.
Warren Buffet perhaps has the clearest understanding of Kanakadhara Stotram when he holds forth on ‘creative capitalism’ and walks his talk by donating billions to the B& M Gates Foundation
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