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Today is a gathering where one group arrives and another departs, making it both a welcome and a farewell. The manner of greeting and parting varies with the situation, occasion, and aim. Yet, the message I wish to share today is unusual. You might think, "Swamiji is speaking for me," but you will find it is not merely unusual—it is something great. Nowadays, the greatest powers in the world are the media, then politics, and then money. Today, everyone who enters politics strives intensely to win and attain a high position. This is ambition, a longing. However, there have been people who refused high positions and grand titles. People would approach them with folded hands, requesting, "Please take this role." Such a person might respond, "Why do you seek to separate me from my family's happiness? I can no longer be tied to one family; the entire nation becomes my family. The time I gave to my family, I must now share with everyone. For me, it is acceptable, but perhaps not for my family." We admire such individuals. That is the right person to lead an organization, and politics is also an organization. Yet, today we try our hardest to win elections using all manner of tricks, money, and connections. Sometimes a very simple, poor man—not rich by our standards—tries to enter politics and win. Within five years, he becomes the richest person in the area. This indicates his ambition was to attain a high position and amass wealth. Unfortunately, such people exist now. Consider one of the world's first universities, Nālandā, in Bihar, India. There was a great and wise man named Chanakya. At that time, he was a leader—a minister or politician—when Alexander the Great came to wage war against India. One evening, a personal friend, not a political associate, came to visit Chanakya for a casual chat. Chanakya was working at his table by an oil lamp, as there was no electricity. What did he do? He extinguished that flame and lit another lamp before beginning to converse. His friend asked, "I do not understand. Why did you blow out that lamp and light this one?" Chanakya replied, "My dear friend, the oil in that lamp is public property. Since you are here for a personal visit, we are not conducting public business. The oil in this lamp is from my own earnings." Such leaders transform a country and remain eternal examples. They are very hard to find. Perhaps they start well, but slowly, as money arrives, their entire vision changes. The reflection of money blinds you. Certain things can blind a man. It is often said, even now—you have the website "www," but in India, they used to say, "Be careful of the three W's: Wife, Wealth, and Wine." This is a warning. In the last five years, India had its President, Mr. Abdul Kalam. He was Muslim by birth, a scientist—not a politician—a man of great vision, simple living, and high thinking, very close to Gandhiji. Upon entering the President's House, he changed many things. For instance, the daily expenditure for the President's dining, meals, and drinks for all official functions was approximately 150,000 rupees per day for previous presidents. When this president arrived, the expenditure became 35 rupees per day. Compare 150,000 rupees to 35 rupees—less than one dollar. When asked, "Sir, is this sufficient? Is the expenditure too little?" he answered, "Yes, I save money for my nation, for my public. In the morning, I need only two pieces of toast, a little dāl, one fruit, and one tea. In the afternoon, one coffee. In the evening, one glass of milk and a little fruit. I work in the President's office. Everyone there should be vegetarian." Consider that Muslims are typically non-vegetarian. He said those who wish to eat non-vegetarian food should go to restaurants. Have a simple diet and do not eat from public funds. The President's House had a large garden of perhaps 10-20 hectares with beautiful lawns requiring much water. He removed all the grass and planted very special Āyurvedic herbs from different parts of India and the world—the most valuable plants with medicinal properties. People began to steal the plants, so every evening the entire area had to be locked and sealed. The income from this garden amounted to several hundred thousand rupees per month for the Parliament, the President's House, the government, and the public of India. I heard that every day, one truck would arrive bringing the finest fruits from around the world for the President's House—very expensive and exclusive. Where they disappeared, nobody knew. He said, "I do not eat one truck of fruits, only one or two. Why do they write all the bills in my name?" Many things changed, and he created a wonderful atmosphere. Now, with a new election yesterday, he is preparing to resign. They asked him to be the next presidential candidate. He replied, "Only if everyone elects me. I am not for election; I am only for selection. I do not wish to fight, for which party should I join and which should I not? I know I am a citizen of India, and all are my people." Such persons still exist. We say Mother Earth has not lost her seeds. Though it may not rain for hundreds of years, the seeds remain. One day the rain will come, and Mother Earth will yield those precious seeds once more. On the 25th, he will bid farewell to the President's House and return to teaching at Nālandā University, as he is a scientist. I read today in an Indian Hindi newspaper some notes on his thoughts. For example, he was asked, "What will you take with you from the President's House?" Anyone who visits the president brings fine and precious gifts. While these belong to him, in reality, it is said that anything given to the president of a state belongs to the state—it is not personal property and should not be. His answer was, "I will take only two small suitcases containing my clothes and the books I have collected over my 75 years at home—my best collected books." The article is beautiful, and I have more or less conveyed its essence. He said one thing: whatever is given to you with a specific intention or aim, if you keep that gift solely for yourself, then—and here he quotes the Manusmṛti—it is written: Yad dattvā yasya yad dānaṁ yena yasmin yadarthataḥ Tad eva tasya tatkāryaṁ anyathā papam āpnuyāt If you keep it only for yourself, then your spiritual development and spiritual light will diminish. Therefore, I express my thought clearly to you: whatever is given for a particular purpose, you should not accept for yourself. Do not make the mistake of doing so. If a person does this, his personality will degrade, and it will cause great damage to his character.