Page:Advice to the Indian Aristocracy.djvu/153

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115

above, I should prefer to form only two classes, viz.:—

I. Charity bestowed in expectation of some return or recompense, and

II. Charity that does not expect any return, but is given as a matter of duty.

It lis unnecessary to dwell at length on the various kinds of charity that come under the first heading. But I think that some explanation is needed here as regards certain acts of Hindu charity known to the Hindus as Krura Danams. (Krura Danam is a Sanskrit word, meaning cruel act of charity.) Amongst Hindus, and perhaps also amongst Mahommedans to a certain extent, money is spent in charity, when a person is sick or miserable, for his benefit. Such kinds of charity are called Krura Danams. Money is also freely spent on funerals under the belief that it will relieve the soul of the departed of some portion of