Hare Krishna, please accept my humble obeisance
in the purport of 1st verse of 16th chapter it is explained that. We should donate only to Krishna Conscious society... and my question is if we donate money or foods to poor or miserable people what's wrong with that ? is it not Charity in mode of goodness ? because it is stated in RIg Veda(1.15.8) that by serving poor and distress people we actually serve God...
Replies
Joy Nitai! Our great acharya, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami spoke about this specifically. I will post his divine words:
"Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada was traveling trough Orissa with his disciples On one day as he was coming back from Saksi Gopal's temple, some people on the way asked for alms from the married men who accompanied Srila Prabhupada, but none of them gave anything. Srila Prabhupada, in seeing this, stopped, sat down and started to talk about the duties of married men. During his chat he said:
"If married men think: 'I must not give any of my money, which I consider reserved for Krishna, to the poor and deprived", then they are really showing symptoms of wretchedness, cruelty and lack of compassion for others. They should not consider that giving charity to the poor is a fruitful activity. This kind of mentality shall make their hearts hard and they will suffer of greed. As a result of this they shall not want to spend their money, not even on the devotional service to the Supreme Lord, which is the ultimate goal in life. This will invite offenses in the service. To save ourselves of this kind of deceit and sinful concept, Sri Gaurasundara used to give money and things like that to the poor people during His pastimes as a married man. The money we have, we have only gotten by the Lord s grace, if we give some of it to the mendicant poor people, then it is not a waste of money, rather it is its correct use. Serving prasadam to others is the necessary duty of every married Vaishnava. Even if these people have turned to poor by karma or their destiny, even so, they are still a part of the Lord's family. Therefore it is definitively the solemn duty of every honest married man to help them"."
thank u Mohit pravu...
Jaya Nitai! It is all the mercy of Srila Prabhupada :)
PrahBoo
All glories to Srila Prabhupad. I just copy pasted.
Hare krsna.
Hare krsna
All glories to Guru and Gauranga and devotees.
A humble attempt to answer your question prabhu.
In BG 17:20 Krsna clearly says what constitutes charity in the mode of goodness:
17.20
dātavyam iti yad dānaḿ
dīyate 'nupakāriṇe
deśe kāle ca pātre ca
tad dānaḿ sāttvikaḿ smṛtam
TRANSLATION
Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness.
Prabhupada’s purport to the verse answers all your questions
PURPORT
In the Vedic literature, charity given to a person engaged in spiritual activities is recommended. There is no recommendation for giving charity indiscriminately. Spiritual perfection is always a consideration. Therefore charity is recommended to be given at a place of pilgrimage and at lunar or solar eclipses or at the end of the month or to a qualified brāhmaṇa or a Vaiṣṇava (devotee) or in temples. Such charities should be given without any consideration of return. Charity to the poor is sometimes given out of compassion, but if a poor man is not worth giving charity to, then there is no spiritual advancement. In other words, indiscriminate charity is not recommended in the Vedic literature.
By donating it to Krsna conscious society you are still serving Krsna because Krsna says He is happy if one serves His devotees than to serve Him directly. So, there is no loss or no need to worry about good or bad karma coming out of the charity. If you donate money or food to other institutions, you cannot be sure that it will used for the right purpose/cause (I am not saying all institutions are bad at handling donation). It would be wise to act as Krsna says and be careful on where our donation goes. Krsna knows your intention and will guide you accordingly.
Hope that answers your questions prabhu. Please feel to ask any follow-up questions.
Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!!
Hare krsna.
Hare Krishna
PAMHO
I have not read much of the books and don't have much knowledge. But, here is a kind request - if you see someone needing help with anything, needing help with food - kindly go ahead and help Prabhuji. Does not matter he belongs to which religion, which caste, which country, which belief system - help the person in need !!!
- Thanks,
Sandhya
Hare Krishna, thank u so much for ur reply