From the Rig Veda:
That man really enjoys his food who feeds also the poor and the emaciated beggar that goes about oppressed by hunger.
He will have plenty of wealth as a result of such philanthropic deeds and his charity will secure for him friends in times of need.
Doing Good: Vivekananda Kendra Patrika:
Why do we do good work? Because it is a blessing to ourselves. Swami Vivekananda calls upon us to see and serve God in man, and gives the key to blessedness in the following words:“We may all be perfectly sure that the world will go on beautifully well without us, and we need not bother our heads wishing to help it. Yet, we must do good; the desire to do good is the highest motive power we have, if we know all the time that it is a privilege to help others. Do not stand on a high pedestal, and take five cents in your hand and say, ‘Here, my poor man,’ but be grateful that the poor man is there, so that by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world and thus become pure and perfect…. “No beggar whom we have helped has ever owed a single cent to us: we owe everything to him because he has allowed us to exercise our charity on him. It is entirely wrong to think that we have done, or can do, good to the world, to think that we have helped such and such people. It is a foolish thought, and all foolish thoughts bring misery. We think that we have helped some man and expect him to thank us, and because he does not, unhappiness comes to us. Why should we expect anything in return for what we do? Be grateful to the man you help, think of him as God. Is it not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men? If we were really unattached, we should escape all this vain expectation, and could cheerfully do good work in the world.”
Hindu Ethics By Swami Nikhilananda Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center, New York Ethics forms the steel-frame foundation of the spiritual lifeEthics, which concerns itself with the study of conduct, is derived, in Hinduism, from certain spiritual concepts; it forms the steel-frame foundation of the spiritual life. Though right conduct is generally considered to belong to legalistic ethics, it has a spiritual value as well. Hindu ethics differs from modern biological science ethics, for according to this whatever is conducive to the continuous survival of a particular individual or species is good for it. It also differs from utilitarian ethics, whose purpose is to secure the maximum utility for a society by eliminating friction and guaranteeing for its members a harmonious existence. Hindu ethics prescribes the disciplines based on spiritual considerations which are to be observed consciously or unconsciously as long as man lives.
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