Charity is love in action

The Art of Giving

Question 1: When should one give?

Have you heard about the following incident from Mahabharat?
Yudhisthir, asks a beggar seeking alms, to come the next day. Upon this, Bhima rejoices since he now knows that Yudhisthir his brother has conquered death. For, Yudhisthir will be alive tomorrow to give. Yudhisthir gets the message too. One does not really know whether one will be there tomorrow to give! We are not Yudhishthirs.

So earlier, the better.

Question 2: How much to give?


One recalls the famous incident from history. Rana Pratap was reeling after the defeat he received at the hands of the Mughals. He had lost his army, his wealth, and most importantly, he had lost hope; his will to fight. In this dark hour, his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came to see him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight the next day.

"Give as much as you can!

Question 3: What to give?

It is not only money that can be given. It could be a flower or even a smile.

It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing he received in days or weeks!

You can give anything but you must give it from your heart!

Question 4: Whom to give?

Many a time we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is asking for help. However, becoming suspicious and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving may be wrong.
Be not judgmental.

Question 5: How to give?

While giving, follow the biblical advice, "Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives."

Charity without publicity and fanfare is commendable. Give quietly; while receiving, let not the recipient feel harassed or humiliated. After all, what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and leave with nothing. The things we enjoyed were only gifted to us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to you? Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.

How should one feel after giving?

We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as 'Guru Dakshina', he unfalteringly chopped off his thumb and gave it to Drona.

There is a little known sequel to this story.

Eklavya, when he was dying, was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb.
He replied, "Yes! I regretted it once in my life. It was when the Pandavas were about to kill Dronacharya, whose heart was broken on the false news of the death of his son, Ashwathama and stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If it was there, no one could have dared to hurt my Guru." The message is loud and clear.

How much should we provide for our heirs?

Ask yourself, " Are we taking away the gift of work from them?"- a source of happiness!

The answer is given by Warren Buffett:

"Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing."

Let us learn the Art of Giving.

Quote from Kabir:

"When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills the boat, its time to throw it out with both hands."

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$