7th October 2024
‘The Joy of Giving,’ also known as ‘Daan Utsav,’ is a festival that takes place in India each year during the first week of October. It’s a celebration of giving back to society, and encourages people to perform acts of kindness by giving their time, money, materials, or love to causes of their choice
I love this quote about giving ,- ‘I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back but God has a bigger shovel.”
“Rivers do not drink their own water,
nor do trees eat their own fruit,
nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them.
The wealth of the nobles is used solely for the benefit of others!”
Even after accepting that giving is for good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.
The 1st question is:
When should one give?
We all know the famous incident from Mahabharat.
Yudhisthir asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death – For he is sure that he will be around the next day to give. Yudhisthir gets the message.
One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give!
The time to give therefore is now.
The next question is:
‘How much to give?’
One recalls the famous incident from history.
Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Mughals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important, he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time, in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister, Bhamasha, came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.
The answer to this question how much to give is:
“Give as much as one can!
The next question is:
‘What to give?’
It is not only money that can be given away. It could be a flower or even a smile, a kind word or a small gesture which touches someone’s heart.
It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters, a smile, a kind word, a touch.
One also needs answer to this question,
‘Whom to give?’
Many times we avoid by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified.
“Give without being judgmental!”
Next comes:
‘How to give?’
Coming to the manner, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud.
Follow the advice, ‘Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity.’
‘Give quietly!’
While, let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all, what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us?
Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.
“What should one feel after giving?”
We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as “Guru Dakshina,” he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.
There is a little known sequel to this story.
Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of cutting away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked of him when he was dying.
His reply was “Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son, Ashwathama, and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru?
Give and never regret !
And the last question is:
‘After giving to charity, How much should we provide for our heirs?’
Ask yourself ‘are we taking away from them the gift of work? A source of happiness?
The answer is given by Warren Buffett:
“Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!”
This festive season, Let there be smiles all around, Give someone a reason to smile today, a reason to think the world is a wonderful place & stay blessed forever.