02/02/2026
நாலடியார் – Nālaṭiyār (4th century A.D. Tamil Wisdom Literature Of Jainism)
அறத்துப்பால் – Aṟattuppāl – ON VIRTUE
1.செல்வம் நிலையாமை – Celvam Nilaiyāmai – WEALTH IS IMPERMANENT
Quatrain – 2: (The Wheel of Wealth: Earn Honestly, Share Generously)
Tamil Original Quatrain (Venba):
துகள்தீர் பெருஞ்செல்வம் தோன்றியக்கால் தொட்டுப்
பகடு நடந்தகூழ் பல்லாரோ டுண்க
அகடுற யார்மாட்டும் நில்லாது, செல்வம்
சகடக்கால் போல வரும்.
Roman Transliteration:
Tukaḷtīr peruñcelvam tōṉṟiyakkāl toṭṭup
Pakaṭu naṭantakūḻ pallārō ṭuṇka
Akaṭuṟa yārmāṭṭum nillātu, celvam
Cakaṭakkāl pōla varum.
Translated English Quatrain:
When honest toil brings wealth your way,
Share the grain the yoked ox earns each day;
For riches rest with none they meet—
They turn, like cart-wheels—up and down repeat.
Meaning:
When wealth is acquired through blameless means, it should be shared with others, like the gruel produced by ploughing the land with oxen; for wealth never remains centered with anyone, but continually shifts its position, like the turning of a cart wheel.
Commentary:
Raja Brajraj Mahapatra married Rani Rasmanjari Devi, a princess of Sonepur, in 1940 and ascended the throne of Tigiria (Odisha) in 1943. In an interview, he once claimed to have shot thirteen tigers and twenty-eight leopards, their skins adorning his palace. At the height of his power, he maintained thirty servants and owned twenty-five luxury cars.
Yet his later life stood in stark contrast to this former grandeur. Having sold most of his properties—including his palace—for a modest sum, he spent his final years in a small mud hut with an asbestos roof. He slept on a wooden cot beneath a tarpaulin sheet, wore a simple cotton 'lungi', and travelled by rickshaw. His story is not an isolated one; history is replete with families whose fortunes have dramatically risen and fallen.
A long-term study conducted by the Williams Group, a wealth consultancy that tracked over 3,200 families across twenty-five years, reveals a striking pattern:
1. Nearly 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation.
2. About 90% lose it by the third generation.
Research suggests that to overcome this so-called “three-generation curse,” wealth must be accompanied by:
1. Active financial education of heirs,
2. Early and structured succession planning, and
3. The transmission of values—especially stewardship—rather than money alone.
Raja Brajraj Mahapatra himself graduated in 1940 from Rajkumar College, Raipur, and ascended the throne at the young age of twenty-two. He sold his palace to the government on the assurance that it would be converted into an educational institution. True to this commitment, the palace later became a girls’ school, and he served on its managing committee until his death in 2015. On one occasion, even as a ruler, he shot a rampaging elephant to protect his people. Yet, despite education, ethical intent, and social concern, the safeguards often suggested to preserve wealth failed to operate even within his own lifetime.
The second quatrain of Nālaḍiyār teaches that when wealth is earned through ethical and laborious means, one should share one’s food with others. Thirukkural likewise upholds agriculture as a noble and dignified profession. Nālaḍiyār, in particular, esteems wealth earned through ploughing the land, rather than through speculative trade or exploitative commerce.
A parallel ethical vision is found in ancient Israelite society. Before the establishment of monarchy (c. 1405 B.C.), the federated tribes of Israel were governed by judges. Under their laws:
1. One-tenth of agricultural produce was set aside annually as a tithe.
2. The tithe of grain, wine, oil, and the firstborn of herds was consumed communally and shared with those without land inheritance.
3. Every third year, all tithes were stored within towns so that the landless, foreigners, orphans, and widows could eat and be satisfied.
These practices fostered social stability and prosperity. However, between 1020 and 1000 B.C., with the rise of monarchy, communal tithing gradually disappeared. Kings began levying taxes to build palaces, temples, and armies, leading to economic strain and social instability.
Whether under a cooperative tribal federation, a monarchy, or a modern democracy, the wisdom of this Nālaḍiyār quatrain remains timeless. If people share their food and resources instead of hoarding them, hunger can be mitigated even during times of personal or collective misfortune.
In his final years, Raja Brajraj Mahapatra himself received food and financial support from the very people he once ruled. The residents of Puruna Tigiria took responsibility for his last rites. Each villager contributed ₹10 toward his cremation, and the community ultimately raised nearly ₹6 lakh through donations to ensure a dignified funeral. The procession was among the largest the region had witnessed in recent memory. More than 5,000 people attended the 'Ekadasha' (eleventh-day) ritual, including ordinary villagers, former rulers of other princely states in Odisha, government ministers, and local legislators.
The quatrain reminds us that wealth does not remain fixed with anyone; it turns endlessly, like the wheel of a cart. The life of Raja Brajraj Mahapatra stands as a vivid and moving testament to this enduring truth.
- Bp Dr J Ravikumar Stephen G.,
Founder,
Nalayiar for the Jains of the World
