Maxim # 4: ஈவது விலக்கேல் -- Never stop giving.

ஆத்திச்சூடி # 4: ஈவது விலக்கேல் (EE-vathu vi-lak-kEl)

Translation: Never stop giving.

Rumination: The term, "ஈவது," refers to acts of charity. Our minds are still afresh with the cataclysmic tsunami devastation. Tragedy unfolded; humanity responded. The farthest epicenter of the tsunami quake evoked a response from the closest epicenter of one's own heart. Numerous aid-agencies thankfully acknowledged the record amounts donated for a single tragedy. Such humble acts of generosity reminds us of our closeness to each other. Many who contributed would have experienced that inner peace of partaking in other peoples' sufferings. The sublime nature of charity enriches both the giver and the taker. However, such charitable acts must never cease. More than tsunamis, innocent lives are being lost, every single day, all over the globe, due to poverty, hunger, disease, terrorism, racism, infant mortality, genocides, etc. Such evils can be eighty-sixed only by our sustained giving. In other words, our charitable donations, however small they may be, must never cease. Auvaiyar, precisely asserts that with the term, "விலக்கேல்," that is to say, "never cease."

Note: One can only cease something that is already in motion. Therefore, one can infer that charity is innate in a human heart and those rivulets of mercy that gush forth must never be stopped.

Quote: Charity is good only when it comes as a true sacrifice. Only then the receiver who receives the material gift receives the spiritual gift too. If it is not a sacrifice, but a mere discharge of superfluous excess, it will only irritate those who receive it. -- Leo Tolstoy.