Episode # 379 – Protocols for giving & obtaining “Dhaanam” – An important accord!!!

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed yet another important point as narrated by Bhagawan Krishna to Uddhava – Here He explains that if we’ve to seek help from someone, we’ve to select the right person for that. In other words, we’ve to seek help only from those people who follow the path of “Dharma”. For instance, if it is going to be a financial help, we should seek that help from people who are earning money the legitimate way. If that’s not the case, then we’ve to be in for more trouble than the existing ones. Only since we’re in some sort of a trouble and an inability, we go out of our way and seek help from others. But if we’re choosing the wrong people for it, we’ve to understand that they are going to capitalize on our inability and “use” us in a wrong and an illegitimate way to get their personal agenda satisfied. Thus, we’ve to be extremely careful here. The point that Bhagawan Krishna is driving home here is not that we should refrain from seeking help of any sorts from others. It’s only that we’ve to be careful in choosing whom are we going to obtain that help from.

Adding on to this point further, if we look at the customs and traditions followed during our yesteryears, when kings give “Dhaanam” to people, they would firstly understand to whom are they giving it. Because, “Dhaanam” is something extremely sacred and pure, and it should go only to the right person, and not to someone who doesn’t deserve it. This is the first step. Once this point is cleared – For instance, if the king is going to give a “Dhaanam” to a spiritually realized “Maharishi”, there are certain steps that this “Maharishi” should follow, in order to receive the “Dhaanam” from the king who is giving it. As a part of the protocol, when the king gives the “Dhaanam”, he has to declare the following statements in front of the “Maharishi” and the entire courtroom – 1. There are no “Naastikas” (aethists) in this courtroom! 2. There is nobody in this courtroom who tries to challenge the Vedas and Upanishads. 3. There is nobody here who has earnt wealth in the wrong and illegitimate way. 4. There is nobody here who has hurt other living beings for earning money and wealth. Only if these four important points are pledged amidst the courtroom, the “Maharishi” would even take his hands forward to receive the “Dhaanam”.

Thus, we should understand from this accord that even if we’re receiving any sort of help or a “Dhaanam” from someone, we should make sure that we’re obtaining it from the right and the deserving person. Of course, in today’s times, nobody is going to follow any of these four protocols as listed above! We cannot expect that too in today’s scenario. However, atleast we shall do a “mental analysis” of the person to whom we’re approaching to receive something. We should do our homework to know and understand what kind of a person he / she is, what is their past background in giving things to someone, what is their mode of income, etc. Some people might be having a good source of legitimate income, but their mindset would be pathetic. For instance, they would give us something when we’re in need, but they would keep on reminding us upon it in the public for the rest of their lives, just to get petty name and fame for what they’ve done. They would proclaim thus, “Oh you know what? Five years before, if I wouldn’t have helped you with the money that I had offered, you wouldn’t have been able to come to this position in your life today! The entire credit for your success should be owed to me!” This is one kind of people who are vicious and opportunistic in nature. Or, some people would give us an assurance of help, but if we’re going to them to actually receive it, they would crib a thousand times and give what we ask for! For instance, people might crib within themselves or in front of us too thus, “Oh! Here he comes – A person without any sort of money! Why is he coming to me, out of all people in this world? Why can’t you go to someone else? What am I going to gain in life by giving this to him?”

Of course, I’ve just pointed out two such examples of people – But there might be so many people with so many categories of negative mindset when it comes to helping others. Some people might even give something to us with some sort of an expectation at a later stage. If we fail to live up to their expectation in the future for some reason, they would crib about us in the public thus, “Oh! This is why I was against helping people like you who totally forget my help that I did in the past!” We can thus witness many many types of people like this in this world. This is where, Bhagawan Krishna warns us that we should never receive any sort of help from such people. We should be able to judge these people clearly from their behavior, past experience, feedbacks from other people, sources of income, etc.

All of these points that we’re talking about now might sound a little scary for us by reading through, but the point here is that we’ve to be careful, not to fall into the trap of such people when we’re at a dire need. The best strategy is to always keep a “back-up plan” for whatever we do in life. The ideal situation should be that, given such people around, it is better to remain self-sufficient and independent as much as possible – atleast for our basic living such as food, clothing, shelter and basic financial resources. We should always learn to live with whatever we have and within whatever is our personal financial framework. If we’re going beyond this boundary, this is where we’re going to get into problems and we ourselves create a situation wherein we’ve to seek someone’s help for our day-to-day survival. Of course, problems might surface in life, that might be totally out of our hands, but even then, we’ve to learn to remain self-sufficient as much as possible.

So for today, let us understand this point with more clarity and let us wait till the next episode to witness the next point that Bhagawan Krishna is narrating! Stay tuned! 😊