Duty of the public to present a gift

Expressions researched:
"duty of the public to present a gift"

CC Madhya-lila

It is the duty of the public to present a gift to a saintly person, Vaiṣṇava or brāhmaṇa when going to see him

CC Madhya 24.266, Tanslation and Purport: The news that the hunter had become a Vaisnava spread all over the village. Indeed, all the villagers brought alms and presented them to the Vaisnava who had formerly been a hunter. It is the duty of the public to present a gift to a saintly person, Vaisnava or brahmana when going to see him. Every Vaisnava is dependent on Krsna, and Krsna is ready to supply all of life's necessities, provided a Vaisnava follows the principles set forth by the spiritual master. There are certainly many householders in our Krsna consciousness movement. They join the movement and live in the society's centers, but if they take advantage of this opportunity and do not work but live at the expense of the movement, eating prasadam and simply sleeping, they place themselves in a very dangerous position. It is therefore advised that grhasthas should not live in the temple. They must live outside the temple and maintain themselves. Of course, if the grhasthas are fully engaged in the Lord's service according to the directions of the authorities, there is no harm in their living in a temple. In any case, a temple should not be a place to eat and sleep. A temple manager should be very careful about these things.