Composed between the 10th and 12th centuries, these moral observations from old Kannada texts show great care about how to be properly charitable.
Chandan Gowda
‘A person of understanding gives in charity without wondering, “What do I stand to lose?”, without hesitation, without the weight of self-doubt, and without any dampening of enthusiasm.’
“The one who gives quietly is noble. Someone who declares he will give and fulfils it lovingly is commendable. The person who promises to give but fails to do so lacks dignity. So the wise say.”
Composed between the 10th and 12th centuries, these moral observations from old Kannada texts show great care about how to be properly charitable. Acts of true generosity arise from firm conviction, not from half-hearted, doubtful, or morally confused minds.
Apart from offering advice on cultivating the ideal charitable self, the sayings above show a keen awareness of the pressure to reciprocate that an act of giving brings on the recipient and the necessity of pre-empting or lessening that moral burden. If in practical affairs a gift unfailingly entails reciprocal obligations for its receivers and establishes hierarchies of dependence, these sayings propose that this need not be an inevitability and affirm the desirability and practicability of an alternate state of affairs.
The ideal of charity (dana) in India, of course, goes back to ancient times and is indeed of foundational moral importance to Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Islam, among other religions….
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/the-grace-of-giving-3822553
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