论慈善
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中文
论慈善
辨喜在马德拉斯逗留期间，主持了金奈普里安纳达那萨马扬（Chennapuri Annadâna Samâjam）的年度大会，该机构具有慈善性质。在简短的致辞中，他就前一位发言者的一番言论作出回应——那位发言者不赞成给予婆罗门（Brahmin）特别施舍，即超出其他种姓之外的额外布施。辨喜指出，此事有其利弊两面。民族所拥有的几乎一切文化，实际上都集中在婆罗门之中，而他们历来也是民族的思想者。一旦取消了使他们得以成为思想者的生计来源，整个民族便将因此受损。他谈及印度不加甄别的慈善与其他民族依法施济之间的差异时说：他们那套救济制度的结果是，印度的游民安于所得、随遇而安，过着平静知足的生活；而西方的游民则不愿走进济贫院——因为人对自由的渴望胜过对食物的渴望——于是便沦为强盗，成为社会的敌人，迫使当局建立一套包含司法、警察、监狱等诸多机构的庞大制度体系。只要文明这一积弊存在，贫困便必然存在，因而救济的必要性也随之而来。所以他们必须在两者之间作出选择：其一是印度不加甄别的慈善——至少在游方僧（Sannyâsins）一事上，即便他们并非真诚之人，也至少迫使他们在得到食物之前先学习一些经典；其二是西方国家有所甄别的慈善——这种慈善需要一套耗资巨大的济贫法律制度，而其最终结果，不过是将乞丐变成了罪犯。
English
ON CHARITY
During his stay in Madras the Swami presided at the annual meeting of the Chennapuri Annadâna Samâjam, an institution of a charitable nature, and in the course of a brief address referred to a remark by a previous speaker deprecating special alms-giving to the Brahmin over and above the other castes. Swamiji pointed out that this had its good as well as its bad side. All the culture, practically which the nation possessed, was among the Brahmins, and they also had been the thinkers of the nation. Take away the means of living which enabled them to be thinkers, and the nation as a whole would suffer. Speaking of the indiscriminate charity of India as compared with the legal charity of other nations, he said, the outcome of their system of relief was that the vagabond of India was contented to receive readily what he was given readily and lived a peaceful and contented life: while the vagabond in the West, unwilling to go to the poor-house — for man loves liberty more than food — turned a robber, the enemy of society, and necessitated the organisation of a system of magistracy, police, jails, and other establishments. Poverty there must be, so long as the disease known as civilisation existed: and hence the need for relief. So that they had to choose between the indiscriminate charity of India, which, in the case of Sannyâsins at any rate, even if they were not sincere men, at least forced them to learn some little of their scriptures before they were able to obtain food; and the discriminate charity of Western nations which necessitated a costly system of poor-law relief, and in the end succeeded only in changing mendicants into criminals.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。