Daanveer—More than a mere donor

Arjun would often wonder why Krishna addressed Karna as ‘daanveer’ (great donor) and not Yudhishthir, even though the latter too was known for his philanthropy. One day, Krishna decided to demonstrate the reason.

On Krishna’s advice, both he and Arjun took the disguise of Brahmins and visited the Pandav royal court. When they were ushered in, Krishna requested Yudhishthir to donate a hundred logs of dry red sandalwood for their yagna to be performed the following week. Yudhishthir requested they come over the following day. The next day, though, Yudhishthir was apologetic: ‘I sent wood cutters to every nook and cranny of the kingdom, but it’s impossible to get dry red sandalwood in the middle of the monsoon. My apologies for disappointing you. If you can wait for some weeks for the wood to dry, I can arrange for it.’ However, since the yagna was to take place the following week, Yudhishthir’s offer wasn’t much help.

Once outside the palace, Krishna instructed Arjun’s charioteer to take them to Karna’s kingdom while still in their disguise. It was night when they reached the Anga kingdom. However, Krishna requested the guards to let them meet King Karna since it was an urgent matter.

When Karna met the two Brahmins and came to know of their requirements, he looked out of the window before addressing them, ‘There’s no point looking for dry wood outside with such downpour. Since it’s for a noble cause and urgent, I think I might have the solution.’

Karna took his bow and shot an arrow at the door. As the door collapsed, he instructed the attendants to pull out a few other doors and windows that were made of red sandalwood and assemble them to be given to the Brahmins.

On their way back, Krishna explained, ‘It’s not that Yudhishthir wouldn’t have given us the doors if we’d specifically asked for it. But it didn’t strike him. Yudhishthir donates since it’s advised in the scriptures and feels it’s his dharma. However, Karna does so because he likes to give while empathising with the person’s problems. His approach is humanitarian in nature. Hence I address him as daanveer since his act is beyond ‘daan’ or charity. He’s not a mere donor.’

So, the next time we donate or provide financial assistance, let’s ask ourselves honestly if we’re doing it because the scriptures say it’s an assured method of accumulating good karmas or perhaps since the government provides a tax rebate. Let’s go beyond these and stop being mere donors. It’d be better if we empathised with the other person’s problem and realised that we could have been in their place, so why not extend a helping hand? That simple thought of why we give matters more than what and how much we give.

 Blurb:

The next time we provide financial assistance, it’d be better if we empathised with the other person’s problem and realised that we could have been in their place. That simple thought of why we give matters more than what and how much we give.