[doctorzlo]

The Art of Giving

The end has come to Karna after the battle with Arjuna. But his soul is not leaving the body.

The Dharma Devata is around his body protecting the soul. At that time, Bhagwan Srikrishna appears before him in the guise of a Brahmin with a begging bowl.

Knowing Him to be Bhagwan, Karna prays to Him and asks him "What to give" since he has nothing on hand.

Bhagawan says " O ! Karna !! The Dharma Devata is protecting your soul. Pl give away the Punya you have earned by your Dhaarmic Acts, so far, to me as Dhaana. I have come to receive the Dhaana and relieve you from this worldly attachment. Immediately,without any hesitation, Karna removes the arrow from his chest and with the handful of his blood give away the Punya so far he has earned thro"out his life with these words " I give THEE the Punya whatever I have earned so far,along with the Punya what I am now earning by this Act of mine now. " That is Karna the King of Giving.

This is as quoted in Villiputhuraar Bharatham.

"Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others!

Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.

The first 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 Moghals. 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 of 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.
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 received by him in days and weeks!
"You can give anything but you must give with all your heart!"

Next we have to answer:

'How to give?'

Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving.
In giving, 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 giving, 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 giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to 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?

The message to us is clear.

Give and never regret giving!

And the last question is:
`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!"

I would conclude by saying:

Let us learn the Art of Giving,

and quoting the Sant Kabir:

"When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, throw them out (for good causes) with both hands!"

This is the wise thing to do.

[HedgeYourBets]

Nice write-up.

Expect a lot of IFs and Only-IFs of "Giving" in the following replies

[NeroASERCH]

Sowbagyavathy Uma Raja Ramakrishnan, Greetings.

I see this OP in four or different sources. But none of them have the source anyway. It would have been even nicer if you mentioned your source.

In my opinion, the art of giving is a basic quality; Something like a default quality, not everyone is capable of that. I have seen very poor persons giving away food when they don't know where their next meal would come from. I also have seen very rich persons refusing to part with anything by the way of helping others. It's still a mystery for me!

Cheers!

[doctorzlo]

It was in my mailbox, I thought I wd share with all of you.

[Lillie_Steins]

It was in my mailbox, I thought I wd share with all of you.

Sowbagyavathy Uma,

That OP is very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers!

[S.T.D.]

"Addressing a function organised here on Sunday “to celebrate the munificence of writer late R. Chudamani”, who donated all her possessions to charitable organisations, Mr Parthasarathy pointed out that though Chudamani was well-versed in English, she preferred to write in Tamil.
"Three organisations – Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home, Sri Ramakrishna Math Charitable Dispensary and Voluntary Health Services – were given Rs 1.5 crore each. The money came from the sale proceeds of the house of Chudamani.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Rich tributes paid to Chudamani

“We have received Rs 3.6 crore. In the 107 years of the Mission's Students' Home, this is the single largest contribution from any individual and institution. When we wanted to admit 250 more students in the polytechnic we faced an uncertain financial situation. Chudamani's contribution filled a major gap and the interest from the amount could meet the expenses of 150 students,” says Swami Satyajnanananda, secretary of the Home.
The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : Home benefits from writer's will

Loss of a crest jewel
The Hindu : Literary Review / Tribute : Loss of a crest jewel

[Lillie_Steins]

வலது கையால் கொடுப்பது இடது கைக்குகூட தெரியக்கூடாது என்ற பழமொழியும் கூட கர்ண்னிடமிருந்தே சொல்வது வழக்கமாகிவிட்டது.

ஒரு நாள் காலைப்பொழுதில் கர்ணன் தனது தோட்டத்தில் தங்கக்கோப்பையில் பழரசம் அருந்திக்கொண்டிருந்தானாம்.

அந்தநேரம் பார்த்து அவனது கொடைத்தன்மையை சோதிக்க நினைத்தாளாம் தர்ம தேவதை.

பரமஏழையாக வேடம் பூண்டு கர்ண்னிடம் சென்று யாசித்தாளாம்.

உடனே கர்ணன் சிரிதும்யோசிக்காமல் அப்படியே தன் இடது கையில் இருந்த தங்க கோப்பையை அப்படியே பரம ஏழை உருவில் வந்த தர்ம தேவதையிடம் கொடுத்தானாம்.

அருகில் இருந்த அவனது மந்திரி , " அரசே இடது கையால் தர்மம் செய்வது அரசனுக்கு அழகல்ல " என்றாராம்.

அதர்க்கு கர்னனோ ," மந்திரியாரே... அந்த ஏழை வந்து என்னை நாடினால் நிச்சயம் ஏதாவது கிடைக்கும் என்ற நம்பிக்கையில் வந்துள்ளார். அவர் என்னிடம் யாசித்த நேரம் எனது இடது கையில் பழரச கோப்பை இருந்தது. வலது கையால்தான் யாசிக்கவேண்டும் என்று நான் நினைத்திருந்தால் ,அந்நேரம் யாராவது என்னை அழைக்கக்கூடும். அதில் ஓரிரு நிமிடங்கள் தாமதம் ஏற்படக்கூடும். அது மட்டுமல்ல அந்த இடைவேளையில் எனது மனம்கூட மாறக்கூடும் .இதைவிட சற்று குறைந்த பொருளைக்கொடுத்தால் என்ன? என்றுகூட சிந்திக்கக்கூடும்.அதனால்தான் அப்படியே கொடுத்துவிட்டேன்" என்றானாம்.

அவன் தர்மதேவதையின் தவப்புதல்வன் ஆயிற்றே.... அவனுக்கு நிகர் அவன் ஒருவனே...

மகாபாரதத்தில் எனக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்த கதாபாத்திரம் கர்ண்ன் ....

[doctorzlo]

கொடுப்பதைக் கொடுத்துவிட்டு......
ஏன் கொடுத்தோம்.....
எதற்க்காகக் கொடுத்தோம்...
இப்படியெல்லாம் நடக்கும் என்று தெரிந்துஇருந்தால் கொடுத்திருக்கவே மாட்டேனே...
தெரியாமல் கொடுத்துவிட்டோம்....
என்றெல்லாம் புலம்பும் மனிதர்களுக்கிடையில்.......

இன்றய கலியுகத்தில் எனக்கு பழம்பெரும் சினிமா நடிகை திருமதி காஞ்சனா அவர்களை மிகவும் பிடிக்கும்.

முடிசூடா ராணியாக வலம் வந்தவர் தன்னிடம் இருந்ததையெல்லாம் தானம் செய்துவிட்டு இன்று பெங்களுரில் கோவில் உண்டக்கட்டியில் ஜீவனம் செய்துவருகின்றார்.

சென்னையில் தனக்கு இருந்த மிகப்பெரும் பங்களாவை திருப்பதி தேவஸ்தானத்திற்க்கு தானமாக எழுதிவைத்தவர்.

அவர் பல்லாண்டுகள் வாழவேண்டும். இந்த தலைமுறைக்கு அவர் ஒரு சிறந்த எடுத்துக்காட்டு...

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