In the Mahabharata, Duryodhana and Dussashana were very powerful and wealthy rulers. Yet they were lacking in good qualities. Their greed was responsible for their ruin and that of their entire clan. So wicked qualities not only ruin a person but also bring bad name to his kith and kin. We can derive happiness only when we share with others whatever we have.
Vedas also proclaim this, "Na Karmana Na Prajaya Dhanena Tyagenaikena Amrutatva Maanushuhu." Authority and position cannot confer happiness upon man. Only sacrifice confers happiness. Today we don't find even an iota of sacrifice in man. What is the reason? He has become a miser within. The absence of the feeling of sacrifice is due to miserliness. Krishna pleaded with Kauravas to spare at least five villages to Pandavas. When he had this vast country of Bharat, could not Duryodhana have spared five villages? He even refused to give space enough to place a needlepoint. How greedy he was! Actually speaking, the kingdom belonged to Panduraja. Dhritarashtra considered the kingdom as his property, though it did not belong to him, and he refused to give Pandavas their share in the kingdom. His greed was responsible for the war of Mahabharata. - From Swami's 2000 Dasara Discourses Om Sai Ram
