What is a good deed?

Before we dive into the definition of a good deed, let us understand why do we need it in the first place.

The concept of Karma

Different religions and cultures have the concept of Karma deep rooted. Even the leftists who do not believe in religion have concepts like ‘What goes around comes around’. Karma is closely connected to the cycle of boon and curse. Other important part connected to this is the cycle of blessing and prayers.

Positive vibrations generated by a place of worship tend of affect the people visiting that place for prayers. The multitude of prayers being recited add on to the positive energy radiated by the place. Karma can be understood in a scientific manner using the concept of this energy.

The blessing of Gandhari, the mother of Duryodhana was so powerful that it gave immortality to his whole body except for the loins which he covered thinking that it is a shame for him to go naked in front of his mother. It was Lord Krishna who put that seed of doubt in his mind. Once Gandhari removed her blindfold, she was aghast that Duryodhana had covered some portion of his body. He said to his mother that she can put the blindfold back and he will appear once again in front of her without any body part covered. Gandhari replied that when she removed the blindfold, it was a lifetime of penance and sacrifice that came out in the form of a powerful blessing. It cannot happen again. The concept and power of a blessing can be understood by this mighty incident in Mahabharata.

A lifetime of good karma collected by Gandhari by her sacrifice and commitment was transformed into one blessing for her son. We see priests and senior leaders giving blessings and other receiving them. It is the concept of karma and positive energy at play here. Similarly we have heard, ancient rishis placing powerful curses from time to time. Durvasa Rishi had the famed short temper due to which he used to curse people very often. The whole universe was scared of his curse. Sadly due to his curse, Lord Ram had to banish his brother Laxman from Ayodhya. Once Laxman was gone, even Ram could not stay for long in Ayodhya. So attached he was to his brother, that he left his kingdom in the hands of his two sons and left for Guptar Ghat for Samadhi. Once Lord Ram was gone, Ayodhya fell into wilderness. A curse placed by anyone no matter how strong or weak will affect your harmony and will contribute to negative vibrations around you.

The role of a good deed

You might not have any control over the negative energies and vibrations reaching you. Curses, your own mistakes, sins of your past, people not happy with you, etc. All such reasons will cause the pile up of negative energy around you.

There are powerful pilgrim places where your accounts are opened. The balance sheet of good deeds against bad even of previous births is recorded for the day of the reckoning. Some believe that the day of reckoning comes on the day we die. I believe that the day of reckoning comes when you visit Kashi. The sheer amount of temples and vedic schools in that small area of 6 kms of Ganga river front means that not only this place is flooded with positive vibrations, it is also a place to account for your sins and bad deeds. People come to Kashi with also the fear that they have committed sins which need to be washed away. Donations come handy here. Some people even build temples to balance out there deeds.

Definition of a good deed

Imagine a tired street vendor about to close shop and head home after a long hard day in the blazing sun of Delhi. You have a short conversation with him which lifts up his spirits.

Some known acquittance calls you up and wants to share something. You give a patient hearing and in the end manage to convey to that person that whatever he or she is doing, is the right thing. Suddenly you have boosted the morale of that person.

A word of praise or encouragement or simply engaging in an activity with someone, are all good deeds. PM Narendra Modi once mentioned in an interview that if anyone comes to meet him, that visitor gets his undivided attention and he loves to get engrossed in the conversation. Considering he is one of the busiest person in the world, managing to hold a two way conversation and making the visitor feel special is a good deed.

So basically if small gestures from your side make the people in front of you happy, it is a good deed. We get enough opportunities to do a good deed. The only problem is that most people do not understand the definition of a good deed because they are too selfishly minding their own happiness.

Have you really made someone happy today?

A good deed is all about making someone happy. Maybe with money but not always. If nothing is going right in your life, the best way forward is to keep doing good deeds by helping others. Eventually the tide will turn.