The Shubh & Laabh of Balancing the Books

Feb 5, 2004, 12.00am IST
K S Ram.

The words “Shubh Laabh” can be seen scripted at the entrance of many big and small business establishments in India. This is also inscribed on the cash-ledger as part of a ritual of sancti-fication of the new books of account on Dhanteras, the auspicious day two days before Deepa-vali, when the Indian commercial calendar traditionally commences. What does this legend signify?


Business anywhere in the world is conducted for profit, laabh. Why then the restrictive prefix, shubh? Does it imply that there can be laabh other than shubh? Can there be such a thing as ashubh laabh?

Laabh comes from labh, which denotes something that accrues. When the pursuit of laabh becomes unbridled, it degenerates into lobh or greed. Accrual or laabh is a neutral word; it may be for good or it may be for bad. The ultimate test of profit is not a rise in the cash balance. It is in how this cash impacts your life.

Money is called maya, because its impact on the life of its possessor is uncertain. This view follows from the law of karma: good begets good; and bad begets bad. Money got by unfair means — for instance, through tax evasion — could lead to tax raids, court hassles, worries, and ultimately, loss of health and happiness.

Good accrual or shubh laabh, is bound to impact your life positively. The important point, therefore, is not quantity but quality: Not ‘how much’ but ‘how’. On the Scales of Life, less profit acquired in a fair manner is weightier than more profit acquired in an ill-gotten manner. Shubh laabh commits a businessman to all aspects of fair-dealing: Good stuff, justly priced, given away in correct weight and measure.
The principle of shubh laabh applies not only to business but also to those who are employees — whether they work for government or private organisations. It would be prudent for all to shun income acquired through underhand means and endeavour to work in a manner that justifies the salary received.
The common refrain of disgruntled employees is that it is useless to work, because regardless of whether you work or not, your pay-cheque remains unaltered. This view of money is shortsighted. When two same-grade employees draw the same salary despite the fact that one works very hard and the other, hardly, the impact of the salary on them and their families will not be the same. A dishonest worker might actually be spending more for his family upkeep than might an honest worker due to exigencies of circumstances.
Distracted by his preoccupation with accumulating ashubh laabh, he probably will not spend quality time with his family. He might therefore have to spend more on education and medical expenses of his family members — he himself, in fact, might not be in the pink of health with all the worry and anxiety likely to arise on account of the pursuit of undeserved income. It is for this reason that Adi Shankaracharya has exhorted: “Whatever income (ya’labhate) comes of your honest toil (nija-karm’uttpattam), on such money alone (vittam tena) content yourself (vinodaya chittam)’’.
What if some money which does not rightfully belong to you comes to you unsought? The answer to this, perhaps, may be found in the advice Indian mothers are wont to give to children, who run to them with a coin found lying on the road: “Wash the coin with water and offer it in the temple hundi!” IF the child persists in asking if he can buy candy with it, the mother would normally warn him that it would only give him a tummy ache or make him very ill as it is undeserved accrual. This is how ashubh laabh impacts all of us.