When You See Imbalance, You Are Meant to Act

In a world obsessed with fairness and equality, we often find ourselves angry when things don’t seem balanced. Why does one person have more wealth, more talent, more access, while another struggles just to survive? The instinct is to blame life itself—or to shrug and walk away. But the ancient Vedic seers didn’t do either. They faced this reality head-on and gave us a powerful alternative: when you see imbalance, you are meant to correct it. That, they said, is the dharma of a human being.

This timeless truth is captured in one of the most profound hymns of the Rigveda — Sukta 10.117. It’s a collection of verses that don’t just preach charity; they explain why it is a sacred responsibility, rooted in the very fabric of nature.

Let’s take a walk through its wisdom and see how it echoes loudly in our world today.

Hunger Is Not a Curse from the Gods

The first verse of the hymn begins boldly:

na va u devaah kshudham id vadham dadur utaashitam upa gacchanti mrityavah
uto rayih prnato nopadashyati utaaprnann marditaaram na vindate

Translation: The gods did not send hunger as a punishment. Death doesn’t only visit the one who eats. In fact, wealth does not desert the one who gives. But the one who refuses to give invites destruction.

What a bold idea! It’s not the gods or karma that cause people to starve — it’s our refusal to act. And the fear that charity will make us poor is a myth. Ancient India understood this far better than many of us today.

Take the case of Narayanan Krishnan, a five-star chef from Bengaluru who quit his job and started feeding the homeless in Madurai. Every day, he gives hot meals to people abandoned on roadsides. He didn’t wait for some official policy. He saw hunger and acted. And today, he is more respected than most billionaires. Wealth didn’t leave him. Honor came running.

Give Even When They Don’t Deserve It

Another verse challenges our modern obsession with 'deserving' help:

ya aadhraya cakamaanaaya pitvo annavaan sanraphitaaya upajagmushe
sthiram manah krnute sevate puroto citt samarditaaram na vindate

Even if someone has failed in life or is begging in shame, don’t turn them away. You become mentally strong when you serve. The miser, by contrast, finds only ruin.

This is uncomfortable, isn’t it? We’ve trained ourselves to only help the 'hardworking poor' or the 'talented underdog'. But Vedic dharma doesn't ask for a resume. It asks for a conscience.

In cities like Delhi or Mumbai, we often see destitute people asking for help. The default assumption is — 'they must be lazy or addicts'. That may or may not be true. But Rigveda 10.117 says: help anyway. Your dharma is not to judge — your dharma is to lift.

You Become a Shelter — ‘Aram’

When you help someone in distress, you don’t just become generous — you become aram — a sheltering force.

sa id bhojo yo grhve dadaati annakaamaaya carate krshaaya
aram asmai bhavati yaamahutaa utaapareeshu krnute sakhaayam

The one who feeds the hungry becomes their refuge. Even strangers become his friends.

There’s an auto driver in Hyderabad who keeps a small water can in his vehicle and offers free rides to people going to hospitals. Why? He once lost his wife due to delay in treatment. Now, he serves. He became aram — not because of position, but because of participation in another’s pain.

You don’t need wealth to give. You need attention.

The One Who Doesn’t Give Is No Friend

One of the starkest declarations of the hymn comes in verse 4:

na sa sakhaa yo na dadaati sakhye
sachaabhuve sachamaanaaya pitvah

The one who doesn’t give is not a friend, even if they claim to be.

How many people do we know who say, ‘I’ll always be there for you’, but vanish when you actually need help? The Vedas call this out. Friendship isn’t words, it’s action.

Look at the stories during the pandemic — some landlords waived rent for struggling tenants, others kicked families out. Those who gave became sachaa saathi — true companions. Others revealed their hollowness.

Wealth Rotates — Like a Wheel

The hymn uses a stunning metaphor:

o hi vartante rathyeva chakraan
anyam anyam upa tisthante raayah

Wealth rotates like the wheels of a chariot. Today you ride, tomorrow you walk.

Success is a cycle. Fortune changes. Rigveda didn’t just talk about dharma — it had a deep understanding of economics and power. So, when you’re at the top, you must help the ones below — because you too might return there someday.

A business tycoon who funds education for rural children is not just being generous — he’s protecting his own future. Those children may become doctors, innovators, or citizens who support his industry. The wheel always turns.

Hoarding Is Not Just Wrong — It’s Dangerous

moghamaannam vindate apracetaah satyam braviimi vadha its tasya
na aryamanam pushyati no sakhaayam kevalaagho bhavati kevalaadi

Selfishness isolates. A man who hoards is not only ungenerous, he also ends up alone — unloved by family, friends, or fate.

Think of those rich families where the patriarch dies, and the children fight over inheritance. Why? Because the wealth was not distributed in love — it was guarded in fear. Hoarded food becomes poison.

On the other hand, how many ordinary schoolteachers or social workers are remembered with tears and reverence, simply because they shared?

Nature Is Not Equal — But Dharma Is

And finally, the hymn ends with this hard-hitting truth:

samau ciddhastau na samam vivishtah
sammaataraa cinna samam duhaate
yamayoshcinna samaa veeryaani
jnaati citsantau na samam prnitaah

Even the two hands of your body are not equal. Two cows born from the same mother give different milk. Twins have different strength. Even kin do not support equally.

This is the central insight: equality is not natural — sharing is. We are not here to erase difference, but to bridge it through compassion.

So What Does This Mean for You?

You don’t have to be rich or powerful to live this sukta. You just need to ask one question: Where do I have more than someone else? That’s your signal. That’s your sacred imbalance. Your surplus — whether it’s time, knowledge, strength, or kindness — is not your privilege. It’s your responsibility.

• If you’re a teacher, guide a lost student.
  
  
• If you’re healthy, carry something for the elderly.
  
  
• If you’re well off, fund someone’s school bag or bus ticket.
  
  
• If you’ve healed from heartbreak, listen to someone who hasn’t.
  
  

Where you have more, you must fill in. That is not charity. That is dharma.

Final Word

Rigveda 10.117 doesn’t end with a prayer. It ends with a demand. Look at your two hands — even they aren’t equal. So how can you expect the world to be? Instead, be the balance. Where you see the gap, fill it. That’s the ancient call of dharma — and it still echoes louder than ever.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi