# CI: The Wealth That Is Not Put to Good Use explained — The Kural

> Chapter companion for The Kural by Thiruvalluvar.

## What happens

This chapter condemns the hoarding of wealth without enjoyment or charitable giving, arguing that such miserliness renders a person as good as dead, leads to a demonic rebirth, and makes their existence a burden. Wealth not used for love, righteousness, or the needy is likened to a poison tree or a wasted youth, and only benefits strangers after death. Generosity, by contrast, brings lasting fulfillment like a rain-cloud that replenishes.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Vanity of Worldly Life

Hoarded wealth is portrayed as futile and burdensome, emphasizing the emptiness of material accumulation without virtuous use.

### Social Harmony and Ethics

The chapter stresses the importance of earning neighbors' attachment and giving to the needy, linking wealth to social bonds and moral duty.

## Character check-ins

### the Kural

The text of the Kural itself is the subject, delivering moral teachings on the proper use of wealth.

## Key lines

> Behold the man who hath laid by in his home treasures in abundance but enjoyeth them not: he is as good as dead, for he maketh no use of them.

A person who hoards wealth without enjoying it is spiritually dead, as wealth's purpose is to be used.

_Opening verse establishing the central critique of miserliness._

> Behold the miser that thinketh that wealth is all in all and hoardeth it without giving to any: he will be a demon in his next birth.

The miser who values wealth above all and refuses to share will be reborn as a demon.

_Karmic consequence for extreme greed and lack of charity._

> The wealth that is made without any regard to love or righteousness, and by starving oneself, is hoarded only for the behoof of strangers.

Wealth acquired unethically and through self-deprivation ultimately benefits only others after death.

_Final verse summarizing the futility of selfish accumulation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se/chapters/ci-the-wealth-that-is-not-put-to-good-use
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se/chapters