The word DANAM is a commonly used Sanskrit word. It is used by people, who do not even know Sanskrit, as it is present in almost every Indian language. The widely used meaning of the word danam is charity, but it is necessary to see the
other meanings and the origins of this word. This is a Sanskrit word. Sanskrit
is a classical language like Greek, Latin, and Persian. And in Sanskrit, as in
most classical languages, most words are derived from a stem or root.
The word danam
is derived by adding the suffix lyut to the root verb da, which means to give, bestow,
grant, yield, impart, present, offer, give in marriage, hand over, give back,
pay, give up, cede, sell, communicate, teach, utter, speak, permit, allow,
place, put, apply, or add.
Danam means the
act of giving, giving
in marriage, giving
up, communicating, imparting, teaching, delivering, handing over, gift,
donation, present, liberality, charity, munificence, bribery for overcoming
one’s enemy, cutting, dividing, purification, cleaning, protection, pasture,
addition, distribution of food,
distribution of a
Vedic sacrificial meal,
part, possession, share, paying back, restoring, oblation, the rut-fluid
that flows from an elephant’s temples, distributor, dispenser, straighten, be
straight, nourishing, cherishing, beating, striking, or wild honey.
Danam could also mean destroying; cleaning of a
lamp; coarseness; stimulating; kindling; setting on fire; the excretory fluids
like phlegm, vomit, and urine; giving to gods, priests, and teachers; renunciation;
letting loose; dismiss; discard; abandon; throw; desert;
relaxing; emit; evacuate; discharge; answer; cast; shoot; drive out; produce;
give away; handle; afflict; affect; act upon; touch; air; wind; sensitive
nerve; sensation; contact; putting in; commence; beginning; stating; causing
to attain; claim;
appoint; inauguration; worldly
conduct; accomplish; illustrate; explain; sprinkle; that by which
a sacrificial offering is made; scatter; pour out; completion; final
emancipation or beatitude; illness; trouble; distress; anxiety; inheritance;
retirement; precept; dejection; laying aside; suspending; a general rule;
resignation; quitting; setting free; a ceremony on the suspending of the
repetition of the Vedas; excreting; end; killing; the colon-like sign in
Devanagari; shedding; light; splendour; hurling; offspring; sun’s southern
course; opening; getting rid of; creation; destruction of the world; cause; hurting;
injuring; or slaughter.
Danam
is giving with shraddha, faith and sincerity, when a worthy recipient has
arrived. Both the giver and the accepter should have shraddha
and should follow dharma. The giver should maintain both external and internal
purity while giving the danam. The amount of wealth that is gifted is
immaterial, however less it might be. The wealth
being given in danam should be without any encumbrances, should have
been earned by one’s own efforts in a righteous manner. Danam
should not be given to a person, who is unwilling to accept it.
Danam that is given
following dharma, is considered to be the best and purest form of worshipping the
gods. It is also considered a means to cure one of illnesses, to be done along
with treatment by a physician. One has to give danam with shraddha,
and should not give it without shraddha.
Author is Editor Prabuddha Bharata
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This article was first published in the September 2018 issue of Prabuddha Bharata, monthly journal of The
Ramakrishna Order started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896. This article is
courtesy and copyright Prabuddha Bharata. I have been reading the Prabuddha
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