Hare Krishna ! Dandavat ! PAMHO !
As Srila Prabhupada in his books have recommended that grihasthas should spend minimum 50% of their income in preaching KC Movement. When I told my parents about this, they said that 50% is not possible in this age, how will u discharge your family duties and liabilities etc etc. As i learned from many sources on internet that 10% is the the most accepted term in various religion like in Christianity they call it "TITHING" and in sikkhism it is 'DASVAND". Though I don't know if any vedic text too recommend such specifc % number to keep aside for Krishna.
Now I want to know whether Srila Prabhupada's recommendation over this was for all future devotees irrespective of time/place/circumstance or it was only for his disciples at that time when he was physically present.
Dandavat
Hare Krishna
Your's Servant
Replies
Kshatriya is not a kshatriya if he lives for a donation; He is worse than a mlechha or yavana.
Brahmanas work as vipras like teaching at schools;
as medical doctors; as astrologers; writers; advisers...
In Srimad Bhagavatam or in Bhagavad Gita it says that government should give proper money to vipra brahmanas so that they do not charge any money from their students.
So in our present day we can take an example of a school teacher; he or she is a brahmana; she/he teaches the subject and gets salary from the government but not from students; So that is proper; It is not shudra job;
Shudra is one who works mostly with his or her body; Not with mental body; They are performers;
For example, Goshala is organized by a vaishya; who is intelligent but he needs workers; so shudras work under his guidance;
They milk cows, they wash, take care of cows...but vaishya manages them.
So as we see everyone is working;
Ever person depends on other person; even brahmanas depend on vaishyas and shudras etc.
Dean prabhu I fail to understand the point of your statement here.
If people who are giving money for Krishna are not crying for Krishna then are the people who don't give crying in ecstasy?
Do not panic prabhu. This instruction of Prabhupada is for advanced devotees. You can start with a very small um. As you become sincere and more advanced you will automatically be able to reach that goal of 50%. It is all tantamount to sincerity. As you become more advanced the effects of Mayadevi will be much reduced and the Lord will make arrangements. Not to worry
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If you can give 50% that is wonderful. If you cannot give that much, then give what you can. Your Temple needs your financial support. It is very sad when the Temple President has to beg everyone to give donations. Your Temple is your financial responsibility, so please do the right thing and give as much as you can.
Hare Krsna Prabhu Dandawat Pranam. PAMHO. I have discussed about this thing with a senior devotee and his reply was like this. . Regarding the 50% dilemma, I only know one person out of thousands who has done this. Actually we are supposed to give 100 % (our whole life), which we can at least gradually do within ourselves. My wife and I give according to the Christian standard of 10% of our gross before taxes and give more in emergencies. In my understanding we give according to our heart, and it is not only money but also our time and energy. So don't be too hard on yourself if you can't give 50%--in today's world you have to make a lot of money to do this, or you can live in near poverty. Be wary of those who preach this, but can't do it themselves. So respect this as an ideal, and do what you can with your time, energy and money--the real gift is yourself...we are on the path of full surrender and giving ourselves totally to Krishna in love--not being able to do that we give our attachments, or use them in his service, always accompanied by the holy name and prayer. KC is to a large extend natural and common sense, but some of us make it very complicated and convoluted. We are simply trying to love and serve Krishna and do what is favorable for this. Hope you feel satisfied by this. As for me the topic came to an end after this :)
My humble obeisances to all kind Vaisnavas..
Hare Krsna
Dandawats :)
Hare Krishna dear Devotees, my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Some small addition to what already was explained nicely here by senior Devotees:
As per my personal experience i can say that to donate to a right project or a person 100% of our income is a top most seva. Seva which will increase our devotion to Krishna many many times.
50% is also ok. 20% is also ok, 10 or 5 % is also ok. So results also will be accordingly.
Of course if one is in grihastha ashram then they have to save money for black days. In previous ages people used to save wealth in the form of golden plates, silver items etc. So some savings should be there.
The main thing is that when we have extra money we will have desire to use it for sense gratification.
But when we are poor it is easier to control the senses.
Poor people are thin, they mostly fast, no palatable dishes, no much sleep, hard work...
Money can spoil one.
As a summary:
donation done correctly with right intentions will help us to progress in Krishna Con. very fast.
One more thing is that we should donate as a matter of duty.
Grihastha first feeds others then eats himself- that should be the culture.
Your servant,
There is a story about one disciple of Srils Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati who would give all his monthly pay to his guru deva ie 100 percent. Then that grhasthas wife would have to come to guru dev and ask for some money and the guru would give it as was needed.
That was the relationship they had with their guru.
So you may do like that if you like or you may choose to no get guru dev to manage this for you and you personally manage it.
So you must understand that all the money and possessions even our body belongs to Krishna and should be used for His seva.
Now how our wealth is divided for Krishna's seva is given in the sastra and devotees follow this.
50 percent is to be spent for direct Krishna conscious activity 25 percent for family maintenance and 25 percent kept for emergency.
This is done under the guidance of the Guru and in most cases the guru will let you manage this account.
This is very practical when you work with guru dev and your maintenance is taken care of without waste of Krishna's money.
Fully surrendered devotees can do this.
I personally followed this in my grhasta ashram under the care and guidance of a shiksa guru who had been a grhasta .
Under that guidance my house was a temple and all my family were devotees so I was able to give everything to Krishna.
I hope this does not confuse you more.
This is not the same as what you describe as tithing as the Christians follow.
Devotees see that everything belongs to Krishna and never act as if we are Independant.
Hare Krishna.