Last month the Supreme Court made it clear that it would not take an elitist view to ban begging and order removal of all beggars, who are a common sight at all public places. It further added that the only solution to this socio-economic problem is the rehabilitation of beggars and giving them education and employment .
In our country, begging has a long tradition of thousands of years. Asking for alms was a respectable practice and had religious sanctity then. Some would follow the spiritual path by giving up worldly pleasures. They were called Sanyasis who were required to beg for their livelihood. Besides being called Sanyasis, these persons were also known by other names such as Sadhus, Jogis, Gosais, Bairagis, Tapasvis and Bhikhus. Brahmins also received alms in the form of food and the alms were called madhukari in Sanskrit. The high status for begging then was discredited because of one wicked deed of Ravana, the king of Lanka. This demon by pretending to be a beggar abducted holy Seetamai, wife of Sri Rama.
In Hindu religion a ritual named thread ceremony is performed which is meant for small boys. The boy, who is called batoo in this celebration, wears a sacred thread and by holding a bowl in his hands, begs before the gathering there. This rite is called Bhiksha grahan in Sanskrit. In India eminent personalities had carried out the task of begging in their lives. These include among others saint Ramdas Swami, Saint Dnyeshwar, Sri Saibaba of Shirdi and Swami Vivekanand.
Begging means asking for something humbly. Like beggars, there are plentiful donors in our country. Indian culture believes that charity is a meritorious act and this sacred deed would remain incomplete if one’s donation is not received. Therefore our scriptures say that the donor should always be thankful to the receiver as the latter has accepted what the former has donated. In the past, there were number of donors big and small in our country. Among them, King Bali and King Karan were renowned donors. There are different kinds of charities. They include among others, donations of land, cattle, food, clothing, shelter, blood, time, knowledge and labour. In Sanskrit donation of land is called bhudaan. One Gandhian Saint Acharya Vinoba Bhave led bhudaan movement in India during the last century.
All religions across the world sing the glory of charity in one voice. In Islam charity is called Zakat. Sacred Quran commands Muslims to give charity to the poor. Holy Bible regards charity as the highest form of love. Similarly, charity commands high respect in faiths namely Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Hinduism believes that donation without any expectation in return is the real charity.
The problem of beggars in our country is indeed worrisome. As earlier, the reason behind begging now is neither religious nor spiritual. It is purely economic. Most of the beggars in our country are homeless and jobless. Again, they are illiterates. They do not have enough clothes to wear and enough food to eat. Only very few of them earn exceptionally more. We can call them ‘rich beggars’! But by and large beggars here are extremely poor.
