Giving And Gaining : 2. Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati

03/06/2019
2.

#You do need to keep a few things in mind while giving :

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that the daan that’s given at the right place, to the right person, in the right way is considered good; that which is given grudgingly, with the expectation of getting something in return, is not good; and a daan which is given at the wrong time, with wrong attitude, to the wrong person is bad.

#Welfare Vs Empowerment :

There are various types of daan — anna or food daan, gau or cow daan, gyan or knowledge daan, for instance. Also there is a hierarchy of sorts among things that you can give. Take, for instance, anna daan. Giving food to someone to eat is good. Even better is gyan daan or sharing knowledge. A hungry man first needs to be fed. Only then will he be receptive to knowledge.

Daan in the form of food or money helps in the welfare of people. But it may not last, and as a result recipients could come back for more and eventually get used to charity. But by giving knowledge, you can make him independent; he gets empowered. Besides, when you share knowledge, you expands your own knowledge base which is not always the case with material wealth, which can get depleted.

To be continued ...