Thus Spake the Divine - Service to Society

Thus Spake the Divine

Service to Society

Service to society is service to God, says Poojyasri Maha Periyava. In this and next chapter, Maha Periyava lists the different kinds of services to people, particularly Annadhanam.

Annadanam (serving food for free) is one of the effective ways of service to society. Every house, while cooking rice for the family, should store one handful of rice in a separate container in the name of God. Rice stored in different houses should then be collected location-wise and given to the nearby temple for making naivedyam to God.

This naivedyam can be distributed free to the poor of the respective area. Along with one handful of rice, one paisa could also be similarly saved. The accumulated money can be used for buying other items, such as firewood for cooking rice, dal, vegetables or vessels etc. This is the best kind of service to the society.

The hungry poor fed in the temple will feel happy. This will also make people come to the temple and thus Bhakti towards God will be nurtured. Moreover, what is being offered is not just food but naivedyam or prasadam of God, which will purify the thoughts and minds of people eating the naivedyam.

Such service to society has been going on since ancient times. It was inherent within people to do such things. People dug wells for supplying water to the poor, built temples for welfare of the society, and maintained a garden as part of the temple and so on, apart from doing annadanam. It is great Punya if a pool or pond is dug in the village, where thirsty cows and other animals can drink water and quench their thirst.

Irrespective of caste or creed, wealthy or poor, all people should join hands and engage in such charitable activities. This not only helps bring in harmony and unity within the society, it also helps purify one’s thoughts and actions. In addition, meditation can purify the mind and chanting of mantras can help purify the body.

More and more one takes up such efforts for wellbeing of the poor, more and more will his mind and body get purified. When a well or pond is dug by people belonging to different strata of life, their ego also gets buried. Love flows from our hearts and it leads to growth of our inner self.

Considering all people as replica of God, one should utilise his hands and legs gifted by God for the service of the society, though without any pomp, show or publicity!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.