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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Scriptural rules governing charity

 

CHENNAI, FEB. 16. Times without number, scriptural texts refer to

the need for everyone to extend charity to deserving persons and

causes. While listing the benefits which will accrue due to the

act of philanthropy, certain rules have also been laid about the

manner in which it has to be extended. Essentially, there should

be absolutely no compulsion and however insignificant it may be,

the help should be voluntary and out of a genuine feeling.

Charity should not be done just to display one's opulence or

merely to earn name. It should go to the needy when the recipient

is in distress. The money so distributed should not have been

ill-gotten and the man to whom it is given should also use it for

a noble purpose without diverting it to his personal welfare or

misusing it. The Vedas clearly indicate the restrictions

governing this glorious gesture of goodwill, important of which

is the care not to yield to misplaced sympathy.

 

On his death, a Vedic scholar was taken to the court where

people's deeds in the world are assessed. In spite of his

extraordinary pious acts, he was charged with having committed a

sin, which he denied. Once he had given a good quantity of rice

to a poor man (who was indeed not in its need) who sold it and

started a fish trade in a simple way but which later turned out

to be big business. But since the ``capital'' for the venture was

initially ``donated'' by the scholar, he was liable to be hauled

up. The moral is that charity should also reach a proper place.

The Vedas refer to the good which will result from contributing

to the performance of some of the special rites for humanity's

progress. Of course, all the religious traditions which are

followed even now have significance. The Ramayana mentions how

people observed these customs and details of Rama's interest in

them particularly prior to the preparations for His coronation

which was postponed at the last hour.

 

Sri N. Babu Dikshidar, in a discourse, said God-incarnate Rama,

summoned to the palace of His step-mother, Kaikeyi, to convey to

Him about her two boons demanded from the king, was stunned to

see His father's miserable plight and his face parched with

grief. Conveyed about the decision to send Him in exile and to

crown Bharata, the Divine Prince was absolutely calm. Valmiki

uses one of the most remarkable similes to express Rama's shock

on looking at His father: ``He was frightened like one who had

trodden on a snake unawares.'' While leaving Kaikeyi's palace,

Rama told her: ``I am not after the world's goods and do not live

for them. I am like a sage in my total dedication to virtue.''

All that he wanted was a little time to console His mother and

wife before leaving for the forest.

 

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