Begging

One of the recognized means of livelihood in traditional Hindu society that is
a sign of either very low or very high
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Basohli
status, depending on the circumstances.
Some beggars are simply people who are
desperately poor, disabled, or unable to
provide for themselves and their families and who must depend upon gifts
(dana) to survive. Such beggars have
extremely low social status, although
they may make a fairly decent living,
particularly if they live in a favorable
environment such as a pilgrimage place
(tirtha), where giving gifts is a common
religious act. Aside from all of the obvious disadvantages—low social status, an
uncertain income, and having to endure
scorn and verbal abuse—these beggars
also suffer the stigma of living on
charity, rather than earning an income.
This is karmically undesirable since
giving gifts is one of the methods by
which people get rid of inauspiciousness,
which is transferred to the receiver
along with the gift. In many cases such a
beggar is considered nothing more
than an instrument to be used, and the
most common word for such a person is
patra (“vessel”).
Some ascetics also make their living
by begging but fall into a completely different category. In the ideal case, these
are people who have given up all visible
means of support as part of an effort to
renounce the world; this differentiates
them from the poor, who are part of
ordinary society, albeit at the lowest
level. There is general social approval for
supporting ascetics, at least the ones
who are considered genuine spiritual
seekers, and doing so is widely seen as a
source of religious merit. Although it is
sometimes difficult to distinguish poorer
ascetics from ordinary beggars, in the
case of the most respected ascetics the
distinction is very clear. Such respected
ascetics confer status on people by
accepting their gifts, and consequently
they tend to screen the donors and their
motives very carefully to protect their
reputations. See also karma.