Knowledge And Money

Once there lived a wise brahmin, he was known for his good deeds and kindness. He had two kids named Vidhyasagar and Lakshmipati. One day while the Brahmin was meditating under the tree outside his house a huge branch fell on his head and was severely injured. As he lies on the death bed he called both his sons and asked them to bring two chests that were in his room. He asked them to open chests, one of them had old scriptures and other a pot of gold coins. He explained that the scriptures had solutions to all problems and he had used the gold coins for helping others in need. He asked them to study the scriptures and continue helping others as he did. The Brahmin died due to injuries and after their father's death, Vidhyasagar kept the scriptures and Lakshmipati the pot of gold. Both decided to move to different cities.

Years passed by, Vidhyasagar became famous as he could solve the problems of others by using the scriptures. He never bothered to study the scriptures. He had created an index of the scriptures, whenever anyone came with a problem he used to look at the index to see which scripture would have the solution and tell them the same. 

Lakshmipati on the other side used the gold coins to lend people Money, he became very greedy and used to harass the people who took loans. He used to keep most of the money in circulation in order to get more interest from the lenders.

A great famine struck the country and all were suffering. Due to scorching heat, the house in which Vidhyasagar lived caught fire and the entire house burned down to ashes including the scriptures. When people came to him with a problem now he could not solve them as he no longer had the scriptures and he never studied them. He lost respect from people and didn't have any resources.

Due to famine and extreme poverty, all the people who had lent money from Lakshmipati could not return any money and in turn, Lakshmipati ended up without sufficient money for himself.

Both brothers because of their neglect and arrogance lost their lives.

Hence the subhashatni goes...

"पुस्तकस्था तु या विद्या परहस्तगतं धनं। कार्यकाले समुत्पन्ने न सा विद्या न तद् धनं॥"

The knowledge which is residing in the book and the money which is in possession of someone else is of no use as during the time of need they don't serve their purpose.