Why I Tithe.
by Dhritarastra das and Tulasi devi dasi.
We tithe because we are very grateful to Srila Prabhupada, who gave his life to establish places where devotees can come together to hear, chant, study, serve, glorify, and remember Krishna. This Alachua temple for us is an OASIS in the desert of Kali Yuga. One time we were in Russia for a whole month, and there was no temple. We could see how hard it was for devotees there to find the relief from the overwhelming material energy. When we arrived here and were getting off the Alachua exit, we thought, “Here is the land of Krishna—what a wonderful place.” We really appreciated all the time and energy that countless souls spend to make this Oasis possible for us and everyone else.
There was a time when I served as a brahmacari for 11 years and was fully engaged in temple service and sankirtana. However, even after becoming a householder we want to continue contributing and serving Krishna’s temple to please Srila Prabhupada. We should not be misers, but we should make a sacrifice for Krishna’s temple. It is not like when someone sees a beggar in India and gives him 50 paisa or 1 rupee to get him off our backs, but we should always try to make a sacrifice for Krishna. The more we give to Krishna, Krishna reciprocates thousands of times. Srila Prabhupada said that if you make one step towards Krishna, Krishna will take 10 steps towards you. Srila Prabhupada gave a personal example of this when he came to this country with a few rupees in his pocket, and in a short time, Krishna gave him everything—temples, thousands of devotees—just because Srila Prabhupada’s only desire was to please Krishna. So, trying to please Krishna and Srila Prabhupada by contributing our time and money is the very least we can do.
Also, if you have a desire to work and give part of your laxmi to Krishna, it gives you a meditation while you are working very hard making money. It gives you something to be spiritually motivated about. Otherwise, it is very hard to motivate oneself to make money, so turn it into LAXMI. Trust Krishna. It is all in the sacrifice. When I am thinking that I am giving something to Krishna, just through this thought my activity becomes purified. Please don’t make the excuses, “Oh I’m not sure where the Laxmi actually goes.” It goes for the beautiful service of Radhe-Shyam, Krishna-Balaram, Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada, and we become purified for our service and endeavor. It is a win, win situation. Thank you. Hare Krishna.