ARGUMENTS FOR MANAV SEVA

A famous biblical quote is: "And now abideth faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity

(I Corinthians 13:13).”

Quotes from Puranas

ADATT DANACHHA BHAVET DARIDRA ||

DARIDRA BHAVACHHA KARUTI PAPAM ||

PAPAM PRABHAVAT NARAKAM PRAYANTI ||

PUNAHA DARIDRA PUNAREPA PAPI ||

If one does not donate, the person is penniless and because he is in misery he performs evil deeds. By performing

evil deeds he ends up in here and after taking rebirth he once again ends up in the vicious cycle of misery and evil

deeds.

By charity one attains all state of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha.

BENEFITS OF CHARITY ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT PURANAS

    * VISHNU PURANA -

    * By Making a Well - One becomes prosperous.

    * AGNI PURANA -

    * To decorate a Kapila cow - One gets limitless fruits. The donater becomes wealthy and prosperous.

    * By donating a vehicle - One gets benefits of a Rajsurya Yagya.

    * By donating a tooth brush - One becomes very fortunate.

    * The Thread (Upanayana) -  One gets benefits of donating clothes.

    * By donating secretly  -    One becomes free from all sins and attains heaven, destroys all enemies.

    * By donating a conch  -    One becomes successful.

    * BRAHMA PURANA

    * By donating camphor, Sandalwood, precious gems, ornamets, musk The person gets very fortunate. He also

attains salvation (Moksha).

    * NURSINGH PURANA

    * By giving knowledge  -  The person becomes egoless.

    * ADITYA PURANA

    * By donating gold  -    One makes the Gods happy, giver of goodfortune and salvation.

    * By donating silver -    One makes Lord Shiva happy.

    * Food and Land    -    One makes Lord Vishnu happy.

    * Jaggery, Ghee, porridge, clothes    -    One makes the moon god happy.

    * PADMA PURANA

    * Ghee, Food and a Pot -  One becomes fearless.

    * A water pot along with gold and sesame  -  One becomes free from the sin of killing a brahmin.

    * Fuel (Gas Chulha)  -     One?s digestion power increases.

    * Medicine, Oil    -  One is free from ailments, gets long life and becomes happy.

    * Different types of grains - One gets to stay for a thousand years in a Chandralok. He/she takes birth in a very

noble clan on earth. He is not devoid of any food anytime.

1. Seva of Family

* The age old axiom "Charity begins at home but it should not end there" is founded on rightuous principles

* Everything we are today is because of our parents and it our responsibility to serve our parents and fulfill their

wishes. No better example of that than Sri Ram Chander Ji who followed the wishes of his mother Kei Kei and kept

the honour of his father, Mahraj Dasrath - even if that meant spending 14 years in forrest.

2. Breakdown of Family Values

* A lot of problems in society are due to the breakdown of family & family values. Increasingly, people are living

stressful lives - working long hours, unable to make ends meet, find time to spend with their children, spend laxmi

as a result of being a slave to an addition (eg gambling, intoxication etc)

* Solution - is to help fellow mankind live a happier life by:

a) Balancing their lives between work, family, friends, undertaking charitable activities etc...

b) Understanding how to master their senses and consequently, make best use of their hard-earned laxmi (spend

on kids health & education etc...)

3. Helping People Fight the Adversities in Life

* Around us, people face calamities which may or may not be their own doing

* For example, people born in war-torn areas (eg Sri Lanka, Sudan etc..) are unable to cope with their experiences

(and at times get caught up in a world of intoxication and drugs) - hence, in order to improve their own outlook and

make them positive contributors to society

4. Greed and Ensuing Problems

* Mahatma Gandhi once said, "There is enough in this world for a man's needs, but not for everyone's greeds"

* The problem with starvation is not due to a shortage of resources but a mismanagement of resources.

* Hence there is a need to educate society to ensure they are driven by their greed but by:

a) A desire to share; and

b) Ensure a more efficient use of resources

Re a) a chain is only as strong as its weakest link - hence, the collective output of a society is strengthened if those

of strength support the weak and in need of help

Re b) A study by the University of California's Division of Agriculture Science shows that by practicising the best

agricultural methods, the world's farmers could raise enough food for a population 10x greater than present

(assuming a non-veg diet) and 30x (for a vegetarian diet). Further in her well-researched book Food First, Francis

Moore points that much of the world's best land is being misused for production of cash export crops.
* During a morning walk through a slum area, Srila Prabhupad noticed some stout people jogging down the road.

He poigantly commented that in the huts of poor people, they dont get enough to eat - but the wealthy tend to

overeat expensive exotic foods and thence forced to jog to decrease their weight or spend money for medical

treatment of obeisity-related problems.

* UNICEF statistics note that to satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements costs only US$13bn - what the

people of US & EU spend on perfume each year

* In Chapter 5, verse 11. of Chanakya Niti-Shastra, it is said "Charity puts and end to poverty; righteous conduct to

misery; discretion to ignorance; and scrutiny to fear.

5. Conflict Resolution

* All the wars in the world have been to fight over land or conflict of views

* Hence, to ensure the happy co-existence of all mankind, we need to educate people to learn to respect others and

their values/principles

6. Undertaking Manav seva provide happiness and satisfaction

* Whenever a chartiable act is done, internally you feel happy and satisfied.

* Hand positioning - giver and taker

* Confucius (China's most famous teacher, philosopher) once said "He who wished to secure the good of others,

has already secured his own"

St Francis of Assisi also noted "Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance"