Me, My and Mine.

A little reflection would make it amply clear that this world would not have existed had there been no feeling of 'me','my' and 'mine' amongst us.  For this world to exist and enable us to lead the life of a गृहस्थ   
(literally meaning an individual whose abode is 'house' i.e one engaged in household affairs)we just cannot do away with these feelings. We must appreciate that when we refer to the word 'house' it further gives rise to the consideration 'whose'?  It must be someone's; either mine  or yours or somebody else's. This explains the inevitablity of existence of subtle feelings of possession that drives an individual to keep going in this world. Otherwise you have to be an ascetic. But renouncing the world is not that simple. It is even being bound to the worldly bonds in a new way;I suppose. So denouncing the world by being escapist or deceptively ascetic is to be shunned.
The existence of this feeling in so far as it relates to keep the wheels of domestic affairs moving is welcome. But when we happen to give ourselves to the  collection, possession and proliferation by way of multiplication of goods & properties passionately we only tend to become progressively,obsessively and helplessly selfish. Being selfish beyond limit makes a man exclusivist. That is he becomes inclined to amass properties to the exclusion of others. He does not want let others even use his properties notwithstanding the latter remains of little use to him or the ownership of such properties is not affected to his detriment. Likewise he also tends to exploit the relations he has by way of kinship or otherwise. Relationship for a person like him is nothing but a tool to satisfy his desire dictated by consumption or self- aggrandizement.
The person of this category always keeps his interest subtly or evidently at the centrestage. His ways and means always  terminate in being ultimately engrossed in 'me', 'my' and 'mine'. He is obsessed with these considerations in all his transactions social, economic and of course personal. Before long he loses respect in the eyes of others no matter how wealthy and powerful he may be.
The great Bhartrihari described the ultimate fate of the person given to this character in the following Shloka--
अशनं मे वसनं मे भवनं मे जाया मे बन्धुवर्गो मे।
इति मे मे कुर्वाणं कालवृको हन्ति पुरुषाजम।।
(यह अन्न मेरा, वस्त्र मेरा, स्त्री मेरी, ये महल मेरे, सम्बंधी मेरे। इस प्रकार मे-में करनेवाले मनुष्यरूप बकरे को कालरूपी भेड़िया खा जाता है।)
This delicious and denty food is for me only, this preciously dazzling dress sewn to add glory to me is also mine, it's me who lives royally in this big mansion, this delicate and gorgeous lady must be none else than my mistress to please me at my calling and these powerful persons in authority are none else but my own near and dear relatives ready to serve me whenever I need them.
The life of such men in delusion uttering all the time "me", "my" and "mine" disgustingly ends up at a single stroke of what is called Kaal(Death) chasing cunningly and incessantly every one. This happens just in the same way when a bleating goat is captured suddenly and devoured to death by a Wolf cunningly following the goat stealthily.
R.R.Prabhakar.
07.05.2020.
बुद्ध पूर्णिमा.