Gita 17.20 Give charity for purity not popularity

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 17.20 Here Krishna is now going to speak about charity in the three modes and here he talks about one understands the charity something which simply I need to do it’s my duty to do it one doesn’t think that I’m doing a big favor to someone time, place, circumstance one considers duly and that is charity in the mode of goodness activities that are normally considered good can also have varieties of levels of goodness in them and even good activities can be bad if they are not done properly suppose a doctor gives free treatment to patients now that is good but if in the process of getting free treatment doctor says I will give free vaccines to patients but then those vaccines are not needed or those vaccines have not been tested or if those vaccines are for people from a different say socio-cultural or health level and see those vaccines may if they end up inducing disease in the patients actually the whole principle of vaccination is that there is a little of the disease inducing germ that is put in the body and that the body learns to develop resistance to that and to the extent it develops resistance to that extent it can grow so developing this kind of resistance is vital if we are to move onwards in our life towards greater health so for all of us it is vital to consider whether we are actually growing towards positivity or growing towards negativity and we are helping others to grow towards positivity or causing others to grow in negativity the doctor is meant to promote health and medicines are meant to promote health and yet both doctors and their medicines even when they are given in charity which is meant to be a good thing but if they are not given with clarity if they are not given with proper understanding then the result would be that it will lead to complications similarly for us if we are to avoid complications any kind of charity that we give Desha Kaala Patra Desha Kaala Patra time, place, circumstances or we could say context sensitivity that is something which needs to be gravely considered whenever we are doing anything in life if we do not consider context sensitivity then we end up hurting ourselves in the name of helping each other we actually end up not doing anything positive or constructive we end up with the negative not only for others but even we ourselves may be accountable in fact we may or may not be accountable by the man made legal system but we will be accountable by the divine system of justice so we have to consider not only Desha Kaala Patra charity has to be given in a way that considers the particularities of the person time, place, circumstances as we say and beyond that it also has to consider the consciousness sometimes some people do a favor and they make the other person grow well practically in order to get the favor so it is almost like they make the other person feel that they are filled here in the dirt and they have to roll in the dirt before them lick their feet in fact book licking is a word used for being fawning and obsequious and trying to get everything done once way without taking things forward in a more constructive sense so for us we need to recognize that everyone of us is a soul who is on a spiritual journey, we are all equally parts of Krishna and based on our own past actions and based on Krishna’s arrangements some of us may be presently better positioned than others but this is not eternal those who are wealthy today may become paupers tomorrow and those who are in the renounced order today may end up in the householder order tomorrow those who think that they are wealthy in the context of charity they think I am doing a favor to someone else they may end up mendicants tomorrow where they will be on the receiving and leading charity of course those who are truly renounced they don’t go about seeking charity they focus primarily on sharing spiritual knowledge and while sharing spiritual knowledge whatever charity is to be given or taken that is incidental reciprocation for those in the renounced order or at least that’s how it should be but the point here is that if somebody who is wealthy and they give charity and they think that this person I am doing them such a big favor then that will not lead to much inner growth because when we give charity if we understand that this is given to me by Krishna and I am giving it back to Krishna through different channels then that enables us to stay calm and focused and ensures that we don’t move beyond limits so actually Jesus said that when you give charity don’t let even with one hand don’t let even the other hand come to know that you have given the charity that essentially means that we focus on recognizing that charity is given not for fame in this world but for growth of consciousness towards the other world give charity not to increase popularity but to increase purity to increase our own self understanding that this world doesn’t belong to me that what will be taken away forcibly if it is given away voluntarily then it brings purification that renunciation brings purification that is what we need to do and that is what is being told in this verse when it is said that we should not make people feel obliged we shouldn’t humiliate people when they are given charity rather we should do it considering not that I am doing this for their good actually I am doing this for my own good ultimately charity that is given for Krishna’s cause and to help people come closer to Krishna that is charity that helps others that is charity that helps us both the most thank you