steyaá¹ hiá¹sÄná¹›taá¹ dambhaḥ
kÄmaḥ krodhaḥ smayo madaḥ
bhedo vairam aviÅ›vÄsaḥ
saá¹spardhÄ vyasanÄni ca
ete pañcadaÅ›ÄnarthÄ
hy artha-mÅ«lÄ matÄ nṛṇÄm
tasmÄd anartham arthÄkhyaá¹
śreyo-'rthī dūratas tyajet

 steyam - theft; hiá¹sÄ - violence; aná¹›tam - lying; dambhaḥ - duplicity; kÄmaḥ - lust; krodhaḥ - anger; smayaḥ - perplexity; madaḥ - pride; bhedaḥ - disagreement; vairam - enmity; aviÅ›vÄsaḥ - lack of faith; saá¹spardhÄ - rivalry; vyasanÄni - the dangers (coming from women, gambling and intoxication); ca - and; ete - these; pañcadaÅ›a - fifteen; anarthÄḥ - unwanted things; hi - indeed; artha-mÅ«lÄḥ - based on wealth; matÄḥ - are known; nṛṇÄm - by men; tasmÄt - therefore; anartham - that which is undesirable; artha-Äkhyam - wealth, spoken of as if desirable; Å›reyaḥ-arthÄ« - one who desires the ultimate benefit of life; dÅ«rataḥ - at a great distance; tyajet - should leave.


Text

Theft, violence, speaking lies, duplicity, lust, anger, perplexity, pride, quarreling, enmity, faithlessness, envy and the dangers caused by women, gambling and intoxication are the fifteen undesirable qualities that contaminate men because of greed for wealth. Although these qualities are undesirable, men falsely ascribe value to them. One desiring to achieve the real benefit of life should therefore remain aloof from undesirable material wealth.

Purport

The words anartham arthÄkhyam, or “undesirable wealth,†indicate wealth that cannot be efficiently engaged in the loving service of the Lord. Such superfluous money or property will undoubtedly pollute a man with all of the above-mentioned qualities and therefore should be given up.