We need not believe (or disbelieve) in anything from all of this; blindly or even with open eyes! Instead; it is better to accept provisionally; think over, study and give Total Stress Management (the core of which is NAMASMARAN) a fair trial, if and when we feel (and we abound to feel) the urge!

1. STRESS
CHARITY
AND
SWADHARMA
DR.
SHRINIWAS
KASHALIKAR

2. Like the deprivation other instincts; deprivation of the basic
emotion of love and affection; also being one of the causes of
STRESS; charity (dearness and affection) is logically one of the
important measures of STRESS management also!
The word “charity” has its root in the old French and Latin;
and literally means dearness and affection. Thus the acts of
charity give us gratification of fulfilling our need to express our
affection; in as much as it benefits many people around us.
This is why most of the religions and ideologies; have upheld
charity as adorable value and virtue.
Being uncharitable, callous, crude and indifferent to the needs
of other people; is actually being blind to our own heart; and
suffer from STRESS; and infect and inflict others! Being
uncharitable; is being violent to ourselves and also to others.
Having said this; is being charitable enough to manage stress
totally?
This is an important question; because we live in a period;
when our charity is usually adulterated knowingly or
unknowingly with our petty motivations and/or gullibility.
Thus while being charitable; we tend to extract political, social
and other varieties of advantages; or get cheated!
But; even if charity is unadulterated; it cannot evolve us; from
being fraudulent, corrupt, exploitative, cheating, swindling and

3. so on! We do no really blossom from within; by practicing
mere charity!
Charity in itself; being a palliative; though egalitarian and
commendable action (response, measure, solution); does not
reach and act on the roots of the social and political stressors
(evils) viz. sectarian perspectives, policies, plans, programs,
administrative machinery, laws, rules, conventions etc, which
continue to produce STRESS; at individual and global levels
and harm us.
This is why; practice of charity even if it is sincere; can not
give emotional gratification to the discerning individuals, who
are often suffocated in absence of charity; but feel cheated by
the practice of charity!
Different kind of charity is involved in subsidy, free health
care, free education, reservations on the basis of caste. It is
generated and nurtured and proliferated by consensus born
out of motivations, temptations, meekness, lassitude, indolence,
parasitism, irresponsibility and vengeance; to the government.
In turn; we get addicted to “live as liability on the others; by
exploiting “the dearness and affection and Herculean efforts;
i.e. others’ charity”! We begin to despise work; sincerity,
accountability, service, dedication, merit etc. and keep on
taking pride in asking for or begging for more at the cost of
others; as if it is our right! We go on growing as beggars and

4. seekers. In the course of time we begin indulging in poisonous
propaganda; unleashing indiscriminate violence and creating
STRESS for everyone. This is worst mismanagement of
STRESS and harmful to others.
The government, which adopts such populist policies; harms
the society in terms of throttling holistic blossoming of one and
all!
Thus whether we do charity or get benefited by some one else’s
charity; we have to realize that; MERE CHARITY is not
sufficient and in fact proves to be counterproductive; in the
long run. Many examples can be given to prove this point.
This scenario of failure of “charity” in every way; is evident in
the increasing number and lengths of queues in front of many
public hospitals, restaurants, temples, churches, mosques,
shrines; for charity; in India.
In summary, charity in the long run; throttles us; in pride,
arrogance, condescending attitude, bloated ego; or beggary,
parasitism, meekness, and irresponsibility and antisocial
indiscriminate violence!
In some situations; charity could be the only and essential
solution; for individual gratification and social relief; e.g.
accidents, natural calamities, droughts.

5. But today; in general; a holistic perspective, policies, plans and
programs; for fulfilling our physiological needs such as
procreation, hunger, thirst, locomotion, living in our habitat,
living in our herd, parental care, working; love for the peers,
respect for the elders, kind care for the weak and handicapped,
and dispassionate, selfless and surgical violence against
malignant indiscriminate coercion and violence (punishments
and PRAYASHCHITTA). This is essence of SWADHARMA.
SWADHARMA is evolved and refined form of charity and
appropriate solution in the form of proactively allocated
(individually and globally blossoming) duty; to different
individuals; at different stages of life; according different
personal and social relationships, different seasons and
different auspicious days! Through SWADHARMA; our
subjective feelings, fancies, idiosyncrasies, whims and choices
evolve into objective ones; and blossom in globally beneficial
motivations and actions.
The importance of SWADHARMA is that it does not give rise
to bloating of our condescending attitude and ego on the one
hand (givers); and destruction and/or humiliation of our self
esteem; on the other (seekers)!
In Hindu culture that I am aware of; the SWADHARMA has
been in practice; in the form of various responsibilities or
obligations; conceptualized as “paying off loans or debts”.
Debt is called RUNA in Sanskrit; e.g. PITRU RUNA (debt of

6. father), MATRU RUNA (debt of mother), and SAMAJ RUNA
(debt of society). “Repaying these loans” is called
SWADHARMA. Thus there are PUTRA DHARMA (the
sacred obligations of a son), MATRU DHARMA (sacred
obligations of a mother), PITRU DHARMA (sacred obligations
of a father), RAJA DHARMA (sacred obligations or
responsibilities of a king).
This DHARAMA prevalent in the different stages of life; is
called ASHRAMA DHARMA. Thus the DHARMA in student
stage is that of (BRAHMACHARYA ASHRAMA), married
family person’s stage (GRUHASTHA ASHRAMA), retired
stage (VANAPRASTHA ASHRAMA) and stage of
transcendental renouncement or renunciation (SANYASA
ASRHAMA).
Thus; a BRAHMACHARI student is expected to observe
austerity and celibacy and study. This is obviously a wise thing
if practiced intelligently and with insight; if one considers the
individual and social loss e.g. menace of AIDS and other
sexually transmitted diseases, problems of unmarried mothers
and most importantly thwarting of sublime aspirations and
becoming corrupt slaves of our petty self; due to temptation,
diversion, distraction and fixation of our mind on physical,
sexual and material pleasures.
The GRUHASTHA or family person had the sacred duty of
offering hospitality to a guest (ATITHI). The ATITHI could be

7. any one and not necessarily a friend or a relative. ATITHI
served a benevolent purpose for the society; as a pilgrim, a
trader, an entertainer, a social scientist and in any case a
uniting force amongst the people in different places.
The stage of retired life and the stage of renunciation
(VANAPRASTHA and SANYASA) were characterized by
consultative activities. The VANAPRASTHA and SANYASA;
meant for being promoted to impartial judgments, instructing
in day to day routine and providing guidance in spiritual
quests. There is no escapist or self depriving connotation in any
of these; and in any way.
The concept of SWADHARMA is akin to the role of a cell in
maintenance of internal environment i.e. homeostasis. Thus
just as a cell participates in homeostasis in subservience to the
health of its own; and of the organism; similarly an individual
participates in social homeostasis in subservience to the health
of his or her own; and the health of the society.
Since the fabric of the Indian society has been unidentifiably
damaged and mutilated repeatedly; the revival of the old
SWADHARMA; does not seem plausible, possible and
probable. But we can understand and practice the essence of
SWADHARMA; through rectification of our cognition, affect
and conation; through NAMASMARAN, which catalyzes the
evolution of our subjectivity, into objective consciousness,

8. global perspective, global thinking, global policies and globally
beneficial administration and implementation in our own field.
To put it more explicitly; a doctor would work for the advent
of holistic medicine, a lawyer would work for holistic laws
which would provide not merely punishment but
PRAYASCHITTA (opportunity for one’s individual and social
welfare), an educationist would evolve holistic education
(which nurtures spiritual, cognitive, affective, psychomotor
and productive domains of a child); in terms of policy making,
planning and implementation.
This is the evolution from CHARITY to SWADHARMA
through NAMASMARAN (which Lord Krishna and the other
seers have intensely and earnestly advocated for millennia) and
is the core of the Total Stress Management that can eradicate
the evils such as; child labor, begging, slum dwelling, pavement
dwelling, diseases, handicaps, pollution etc.
It has to be reiterated that NAMASMARAN; can work far
more benevolently; than what has been conceived and
articulated here.