The 'Real Value' of Money: Sri Sathya Sai Perspective

Man cannot attain perfection without a regulated life-style. However, modern man is somehow tormented by excessive desires. He is concerned very much about the depreciation of ‘currency’ - be it a rupee, pound or dollar. However, it should be remembered that men are more valuable than all the wealth of the world. Man himself creates value for rupee, dollar, pound, bullion, land, etc. However, man is not able to realise, that the actual thing that has declined in value is the ‘value of man’. The depreciation of man is responsible for appreciation of demand for all other commodities. There will be tilt in balance in his favour if man is placed on one side of the scale placing the rest of the world on the other. Therefore, man is the most valuable object in the entire creation of God. It is unwise to grieve about the apparent devaluation of land, money, bullion, etc. when on the contrary the actual thing for which humans have to really grieve is their own devaluation. 

Money is required, but it should be within reasonable limits. Besides, it should always be put to good use and it should never be misused in any manner. Crises occur across countries because of misuse of money. For instance, businessmen borrow INR 10,000 to carry out a business worth INR 10. Who is responsible for such transactions? It might be natural for the person at the receiving end to put forth an application for INR 10,000, but then is it not the responsibility of the bank or other financial institutions to evaluate all such demands placed before them and give advances strictly on the basis of merit of each case? Therefore, it can be said that the fault lies with the financial institutions and the government policy. They have the responsibility to verify whether the money borrowed by the parties is used for the very purpose for which the loan was originally intended. 

Finance, like blood, should always be in circulation. Likewise, finance can be compared to a shoe, which should be neither bigger nor smaller than the size of the wearer’s foot. Hence, finance should be in sync with individual’s basic needs. Wealth may be acquired but the means adopted for its acquisition should be strictly ethical and moral.

It should be understood that with respect to financial management, both, the uses of funds and the sources of funds ought to be considered on equal footing in the modern world. Money should be earned only through self-initiative, self-effort and individual-acumen, and not through unrighteous motives, means or practices. 

Japan at one point of time depended on USA. With USA’s encouragement, it undertook many business projects and achieved rapid economic progress. Both USA and Japan vied with each other for economic prosperity and business supremacy over each other, but unhealthy competition with respect to financial matters is undesirable. 

Source: Values-Oriented Finance: Insights from Ancient Wisdom, Chapter 7, Man Management: A Values-Based Management Perspective