A devotee’s question: Regarding donations, Maharaj Ji has told that it should only be done towards the right entity, which is Hari and Guru. But if some poor person asks us for money, should we give or not?
Swami Nikhilanand Ji’s answer: Gita says,
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ||
deśhe kāle cha pātre cha tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛitam.- Gita 17.20
All daan, all charity is not the same. Giving the physical act is the same, giving of money. But there could be different reasons why we’re giving. We could be giving the money to gain someone’s trust so that we can later take advantage of them. So our motivation is actually tamas (ignorance mode).
We could be giving the money so that others will know and will get appreciated. That’s a rajas (passion mode) daan. Our motivation is rajas.
Or we could truly be giving the money to help others because we know that that type of self-sacrifice feels good. Doing something for someone else with no other ulterior motive feels good. So that’s sattvic (goodness mode) motivation.
But then there’s one higher form of daan than that. When we give that daan as a seva to a Divine guru, then our motivation is to serve this Divine personality. That’s the highest motivation that instantly gives the result of purifying the heart.
So you have the motivation side, tamas, rajas, sattvic or devotional motivation. That’s half of the equation. The other half of the equation is the patra (vessel) that you put that daan into. To whom did you give? Your motivation might have been tamas, but you gave to a sattvic individual. So that daan is classified as sattvic tamas, both. You might have gave to a rajas person with a sattvic motivation. So that daan is qualified as rajas sattvic.
The whole thing counts. Your motivation, why you gave, but also to whom did you give, that also counts.
If you give money with the best motivation to a tamas person who uses that money to hurt someone else or to buy drugs and harm themselves, you are still responsible for the outcome of that money you gave. So understanding this philosophy is up to us.
If we give to a Divine personality, the result is immediate heart purification and more blossoming of our feelings of bhakti.
So devotional daan is the highest, followed by sattvic daan, followed by rajas, and of course, last is tamas daan.
To use the example, he (the devotee who asked the question) said, “Okay, the right entity to give to is Hari and Guru.” He understood that. “But should we give to the person who’s begging that we just meet somewhere on the street?” That’s totally up to you.
I know I never saw Maharaj Ji not give, but he’s a Divine personality and he knows what’s in a person’s heart. And also, Divine personalities don’t receive the material binding outcome of their actions. So whoever he gives to, it’s a grace on them. And he always had money to give whenever he was out walking in public, whoever came up to him, he gave.
But our situation is much more precarious. When we give to someone else, we’re going to get the exact result according to our motivation and the person we gave to. So that’s on us. It’s our responsibility to understand the underlying philosophy and also to research what is the patra. Is this a tamas patra? Patra means the vessel into which you’re giving. Is this patra tamas, rajas, or sattvic? Of course, we know Guruji’s patra is Divine and that’s to our maximum benefit.
But if we’re giving to someone else, that’s completely up to us. It’s good to feel motivated to help other people, but it’s up to us to research how that money is going to be used that we’re giving. Whether it’s a dollar or a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars, what that money is used for, we’re going to get the result of that in our next life.
So should I give or not? That’s up to you, but do your research.
