Introduction

Voluntary service or social work, which is often equated with philanthropy, is a somewhat narrower term in that it emphasizes individual action apart from the sharing of wealth. The reasons for philanthropy cannot be defined with certainty, but they seem to be inherent in the nature of humans and society. Philanthropy is a response to conditions in the environment that induce suffering and obviate the fulfillment of basic human needs and the realization of common goals. The physical environment of South Asia was an underlying determinant of philanthropy. All the South Asian religions supported philanthropy. Although Buddhism declined as a separate religion within South Asia, it contributed to the evolution of Hinduism as a fusion of Brahminist and Buddhist ideals. Though constituting a different stream of South Asian religion, Islam also emphasized the importance of philanthropy. It apparently provided divine sanction for practices that had long prevailed among the Arabs.