Today is the festival of Akshaya Tritiya, considered a very auspicious day. Why? Our scriptures state that offering alms on this special day will yield endless merit. Any form of japa, penance or worship performed with discipline on this day will give incredible results.
But what are we doing?
Deluded by the notion that purchasing at least a small amount of gold on this day would bring enormous wealth, people are flocking outside gold shops to buy gold, even if it means buying on credit. Such acts do not carry scriptural sanction. Coming under the sway of gold dealers, backed by the media (be it print or electronic), the common man falls into this trap and follows the herd blindly.
Our country is the abode of the oldest tradition and religion. However, there is no dearth of people who misuse religion to make money. They exploit people’s faith, their fears and superstitions and spread baseless and irrational practices in the name of God, forsaking the true essence of religion.
There is neither scientific proof nor scriptural sanction for the popular belief of buying gold on this day.
Scriptures tell us that those who donate water, buttermilk, footwear and umbrella on this day will be blessed with lots of good karma. There is a reason behind this. Akshaya Tritiya falls in the mid-summer. Hence, if we donate footwear and umbrella and quench the thirst of those who are in dire need, God will erase our bad karma to some extent and also bless us with unexpected help in times of crisis. Buying gold through loans and stocking it up in lockers only increases our bad karma. By doing so, we are inviting Goddess of Greed instead of Dhana Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) into our homes.
There is no doubt that it is an auspicious day. But the propitiousness of this day has nothing to do with either money or gold. A donation, japa or sadhana done on this day will yield meritorious results. This will help us accrue more merit in our account and make liberation more easily attainable. The reason for this is, today is the birthday of Lord Parasurama (one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu).
“yam shastra vidhi mutsrujya vartate kama karakat
na sa siddhi mavapnoti na sukham na parangatim”
Lord Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says that those who deviate from Scriptural teachings and behave irresponsibly will never attain either this world or the other.
The real good deeds that must be followed on this day are - donations, japa, dhyana, sadhana, feeding the poor and needy. On the contrary, piling up our lockers with money and gold will do us no good. Such deeds do not have the sanction of our scriptures.
All rights reserved. This article has been translated by Sowjanya D, which was originally posted in teluguyogi.net on May 15, 2010. The content or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher.