Like the deprivation other instincts; deprivation of the basic emotion of love and affection; also being one of the causes of STRESS; charity (dearness and affection) is logically one of the important measures of STRESS management also!

The word “charity” has its root in the old French and Latin; and literally means dearness and affection. Thus the acts of charity give us gratification of fulfilling our need to express our affection; in as much as it benefits many people around us. This is why most of the religions and ideologies; have upheld charity as adorable value and virtue.

Being uncharitable, callous, crude and indifferent to the needs of other people; is actually being blind to our own heart; and suffer from STRESS; and infect and inflict others! Being uncharitable; is being violent to ourselves and also to others.

Having said this; is being charitable enough to manage stress totally?

This is an important question; because we live in a period; when our charity is usually adulterated knowingly or unknowingly with our petty motivations and/or gullibility. Thus while being charitable; we tend to extract political, social and other varieties of advantages; or get cheated!

But; even if charity is unadulterated; it cannot evolve us; from being fraudulent, corrupt, exploitative, cheating, swindling and so on! We do no really blossom from within; by practicing mere charity!

Charity in itself; being a palliative; though egalitarian and commendable action (response, measure, solution); does not reach and act on the roots of the social and political stressors (evils) viz. sectarian perspectives, policies, plans, programs, administrative machinery, laws, rules, conventions etc, which continue to produce STRESS; at individual and global levels and harm us.

This is why; practice of charity even if it is sincere; can not give emotional gratification to the discerning individuals, who are often suffocated in absence of charity; but feel cheated by the practice of charity!

Different kind of charity is involved in subsidy, free health care, free education, reservations on the basis of caste. It is generated and nurtured and proliferated by consensus born out of motivations, temptations, meekness, lassitude, indolence, parasitism, irresponsibility and vengeance; to the government.

In turn; we get addicted to “live as liability on the others; by exploiting “the dearness and affection and Herculean efforts; i.e. others’ charity”! We begin to despise work; sincerity, accountability, service, dedication, merit etc. and keep on taking pride in asking for or begging for more at the cost of others; as if it is our right! We go on growing as beggars and seekers. In the course of time we begin indulging in poisonous propaganda; unleashing indiscriminate violence and creating STRESS for everyone. This is worst mismanagement of STRESS and harmful to others.

The government, which adopts such populist policies; harms the society in terms of throttling holistic blossoming of one and all!

Thus whether we do charity or get benefited by some one else’s charity; we have to realize that; MERE CHARITY is not sufficient and in fact proves to be counterproductive; in the long run. Many examples can be given to prove this point.

This scenario of failure of “charity” in every way; is evident in the increasing number and lengths of queues in front of many public hospitals, restaurants, temples, churches, mosques, shrines; for charity; in India.

In summary, charity in the long run; throttles us; in pride, arrogance, condescending attitude, bloated ego; or beggary, parasitism, meekness, and irresponsibility and antisocial indiscriminate violence!

In some situations; charity could be the only and essential solution; for individual gratification and social relief; e.g. accidents, natural calamities, droughts.

But today; in general; a holistic perspective, policies, plans and programs; for fulfilling our physiological needs such as procreation, hunger, thirst, locomotion, living in our habitat, living in our herd, parental care, working; love for the peers, respect for the elders, kind care for the weak and handicapped, and dispassionate, selfless and surgical violence against malignant indiscriminate coercion and violence (punishments and PRAYASHCHITTA). This is essence of SWADHARMA.

SWADHARMA is evolved and refined form of charity and appropriate solution in the form of proactively allocated (individually and globally blossoming) duty; to different individuals; at different stages of life; according different personal and social relationships, different seasons and different auspicious days! Through SWADHARMA; our subjective feelings, fancies, idiosyncrasies, whims and choices evolve into objective ones; and blossom in globally beneficial motivations and actions.

The importance of SWADHARMA is that it does not give rise to bloating of our condescending attitude and ego on the one hand (givers); and destruction and/or humiliation of our self esteem; on the other (seekers)!

In Hindu culture that I am aware of; the SWADHARMA has been in practice; in the form of various responsibilities or obligations; conceptualized as “paying off loans or debts”. Debt is called RUNA in Sanskrit; e.g. PITRU RUNA (debt of father), MATRU RUNA (debt of mother), and SAMAJ RUNA (debt of society). “Repaying these loans” is called SWADHARMA. Thus there are PUTRA DHARMA (the sacred obligations of a son), MATRU DHARMA (sacred obligations of a mother), PITRU DHARMA (sacred obligations of a father), RAJA DHARMA (sacred obligations or responsibilities of a king).

This DHARAMA prevalent in the different stages of life; is called ASHRAMA DHARMA. Thus the DHARMA in student stage is that of (BRAHMACHARYA ASHRAMA), married family person’s stage (GRUHASTHA ASHRAMA), retired stage (VANAPRASTHA ASHRAMA) and stage of transcendental renouncement or renunciation (SANYASA ASRHAMA).

Thus; a BRAHMACHARI student is expected to observe austerity and celibacy and study. This is obviously a wise thing if practiced intelligently and with insight; if one considers the individual and social loss e.g. menace of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, problems of unmarried mothers and most importantly thwarting of sublime aspirations and becoming corrupt slaves of our petty self; due to temptation, diversion, distraction and fixation of our mind on physical, sexual and material pleasures.

The GRUHASTHA or family person had the sacred duty of offering hospitality to a guest (ATITHI). The ATITHI could be any one and not necessarily a friend or a relative. ATITHI served a benevolent purpose for the society; as a pilgrim, a trader, an entertainer, a social scientist and in any case a uniting force amongst the people in different places.

The stage of retired life and the stage of renunciation (VANAPRASTHA and SANYASA) were characterized by consultative activities. The VANAPRASTHA and SANYASA; meant for being promoted to impartial judgments, instructing in day to day routine and providing guidance in spiritual quests. There is no escapist or self depriving connotation in any of these; and in any way.

The concept of SWADHARMA is akin to the role of a cell in maintenance of internal environment i.e. homeostasis. Thus just as a cell participates in homeostasis in subservience to the health of its own; and of the organism; similarly an individual participates in social homeostasis in subservience to the health of his or her own; and the health of the society.

Since the fabric of the Indian society has been unidentifiably damaged and mutilated repeatedly; the revival of the old SWADHARMA; does not seem plausible, possible and probable. But we can understand and practice the essence of SWADHARMA; through rectification of our cognition, affect and conation; through NAMASMARAN, which catalyzes the evolution of our subjectivity, into objective consciousness, global perspective, global thinking, global policies and globally beneficial administration and implementation in our own field.

To put it more explicitly; a doctor would work for the advent of holistic medicine, a lawyer would work for holistic laws which would provide not merely punishment but PRAYASCHITTA (opportunity for one’s individual and social welfare), an educationist would evolve holistic education (which nurtures spiritual, cognitive, affective, psychomotor and productive domains of a child); in terms of policy making, planning and implementation.

This is the evolution from CHARITY to SWADHARMA through NAMASMARAN (which Lord Krishna and the other seers have intensely and earnestly advocated for millennia) and is the core of the Total Stress Management that can eradicate the evils such as; child labor, begging, slum dwelling, pavement dwelling, diseases, handicaps, pollution etc.

It has to be reiterated that NAMASMARAN; can work far more benevolently; than what has been conceived and articulated here.