If wealth is lost,

Something is lost.

If health is lost,

Everything is lost.

So, health is best.

 

If wealth is given,

The unsatisfied receiver

Still asks for more,

And unhappy the donor

Becomes, being the loser.

 

If food is offered,

The satisfied receiver

Says "Enough, no more,"

When the zealous Feeder

Still offers to give more.

 

If knowledge is imparted,

The disciplined receiver

Wants it more and more,

While the intelligent master

Perfects himself still further.

 

When one lamp lights

Many other lamps,

It doesn't lose its

Self-effulgent brightness.

So is the knowledge, as the light is.

 

It's needless to say,

The darkness goes away

In the presence of light,

So the ignorance exits

When the knowledge exists.

 

~Rajaram Ramachandran~