Charity to God - Giving Everything to the Supreme Lord
In human society, the act of giving charity is highly regarded as a symptom of a pious and noble heart. However, Vedic wisdom teaches that charity, like any other activity, must be directed toward the proper recipient to bear eternal fruit. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that true charity must be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By giving our wealth, energy, and ultimately our entire lives to Kṛṣṇa and His preaching mission, we step out of the illusion of material ownership and enter the reality of divine reciprocation.
The Supreme Recipient
The Bhagavad-gītā states that whatever we do, whatever we eat, and whatever we give away should be done as an offering to the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because Kṛṣṇa is the original proprietor of everything, returning our acquired wealth to His service is the only sensible and truly beneficial act of charity.
- The established rule is that whatever we do, whatever we eat, whatever we sacrifice or whatever we give in charity must be done to the full satisfaction of the Lord.
- Worship the Lord with great faith, through sensory control, religious observances, austerities and gifts of your money in charity.
- As far as charity is concerned, it is plain that charity should be given to the devotees of Krsna who are engaged in His devotional service to spread the Krsna philosophy or Krsna consciousness throughout the world.
- Learned circles have positively concluded that the infallible purpose of the advancement of knowledge, namely austerities, study of the Vedas, sacrifice, chanting of hymns and charity, culminates in the transcendental descriptions of the Lord.
Mundane Philanthropy vs. Pure Devotion
Many well-meaning people donate millions to build hospitals, feed the poor, or fund social welfare programs. While these acts are materially pious, they do not solve the root cause of human suffering: the cycle of birth and death. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that compared to the eternal welfare work of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, mundane charity is merely a superficial pretense.
- The mahatmas have shown the perfect path of charity: devotional service to the Lord. If anyone ignores this path and instead builds hospitals, his effort to help humanity is a mere pretense.
- O King, leave here and offer your daughter to Lord Baladeva, who is still present. He is most powerful. Indeed, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose plenary portion is Lord Visnu. Your daughter is fit to be given to Him in charity.
- One may get various opportunities to lay down his life on the battlefield, but such an opportunity (to give the Lord charity) as this is hardly ever obtained.
The Supreme Example of Bali Maharaja
The history of the universe provides the perfect example of giving everything to God. When the Supreme Lord appeared as the dwarf-brāhmaṇa Vāmanadeva, He begged three paces of land from the great king Bali Mahārāja. Śrīla Prabhupāda recounts how Bali Mahārāja's spiritual master, Śukrācārya, warned him that this beggar was Lord Viṣṇu coming to take everything. Defying his guru's materialistic advice, Bali gladly surrendered his entire universal kingdom.
- The history of Bali Maharaja and his charity to Vamanadeva is described in the Eighth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
- Bali Maharaja gave the whole earth in charity to Lord Hari when He appeared as Vamanadeva.
- Bali Maharaja did not agree to abide by the order of his spiritual master (to not give land to Lord Vamanadeva) when he understood that the beggar was Visnu Himself, and he at once agreed to give Him in charity the land requested.
- Bali Maharaja was prepared to give everything to Lord Visnu, and Sukracarya, being a professional priest, might have been anxiously waiting, doubting whether there had been any such instance in history in which one had given everything in charity.
Divine Reciprocation
God does not need our money or land; the goddess of fortune eternally serves Him. Yet, He begs from His devotees simply to give them the opportunity to advance in love. Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals the beautiful secret of this exchange: when Bali Mahārāja gave everything, the Lord expanded His form to cover the universe, and ultimately gave Himself to His pure devotee as his eternal protector.
- Although the Personality of Godhead is so great that the goddess of fortune is always under His command for enjoyment, He still extended His hands to take charity from Maharaj Bali.
- Despite his knowledge that Lord Vamanadeva was cheating him, Bali Maharaja gave everything to the Lord in charity, and thus the Lord extended His body and assumed a gigantic form as Lord Visnu.
- Bali Maharaja wanted to give charity to Vamanadeva, but the Lord expanded His body in such a way that He showed Bali Maharaja that everything in the universe is already in His body.
- The word san is also used in the sense of charity; therefore when everything is given up in charity unto the Lord, the Lord reciprocates by giving Himself unto the devotee. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (Bhagavad-Gita 4.11): ye yatha mam prapadyante.
- Bali Maharaja did not get back all his material possessions merely because of his charity to the Lord.
Conclusion
There is no loss in surrendering everything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda assures us that by dedicating our resources to the propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are performing the highest welfare work for humanity. Following the glorious footsteps of Bali Mahārāja, when we offer our wealth and our hearts in charity to God, we gain the supreme, eternal treasure of the Lord's personal association.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Charity to God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.