On the occasion of Navaratri, there is joy in giving and this profound yet simple message by our Founder, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati stresses the importance of Vidya Danam.
It is important to understand that contribution is not only monetary. Converting another person from the level of a survivor into that of a contributor is a contribution. That is why it is said that among that the many danams, gifts or contributions, vidya-danam, the gift of knowledge is considered to be the greatest.
Whether you directly offer vidya to another person by teaching a language, a discipline of science, or a skill, or indirectly provide a situation for such transference of knowledge to take place, it is a contribution. What kind of vidya should this be? Any vidya is good, but if you are able to give self-knowledge to a person, that is the greatest contribution. Vidya or knowledge is something that is very precious.
Every Indian should have this awareness of taking care of people of this country, the people who need help, who are isolated, alienated from the mainstream society and whose culture is also in danger, whose livelihood is not in a desirable state. So the people of the country should take care of the people, people should help people.