If I Give Money... They Drink Alcohol, Whose Sin Is It?

A brief discourse by Pujya Maharaj Ji — see the video above to listen to the complete version.

Complete Discourse

Maharaj Ji, if we give money to someone and they use that money to buy alcohol or meat and fish, will we incur sin? Yes, absolutely. Yes, absolutely. We certainly will. That is why we should give money only after assessing the character of the recipient. We advise against giving money indiscriminately. Instead, you can give them food. You can give them clothes. You can give them medicine.

But if we want to give money, there are places like gaushalas and santshalas, where the saints are served and the cows are served, or places where free medicine is given to patients.

Even if we only have ₹100, we should donate to such organizations—to big missions and foundations. There are missions that serve with honesty and integrity. We should give our support to these missions, or to places where the saints are being served and the cows are being served. We should give money to such places consciously and thoughtfully, understanding that our money will not be misused. We must do this very carefully.

So, the intention with which we give money should be the same intention with which our service reaches. If we give money in this way, then it won't be misused. Yes, once we understand the need, we definitely make the necessary arrangements for it. So we should donate money very carefully.

This text is taken from auto-generated captions of the video — there may be errors in the words. Please watch the video to hear the authentic discourse.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)