According to the scriptures a ritual involving charity (DAnam) will not be successful without the use of water. For example, while going through a Tantra related book that I have I found the following verse:
VinA darvaistu yat snAnam yaccha dAnam vinodakam |
Asankhyo yastu japyam sarvam tad phalam smritam ||Without Darba (Kusha grass) a bath does not purify; without water charity is fruitless and likewise if the count is not kept the Japa is equally fruitless an act.
This verse is quoted in that book not to emphasize about the charity thing but to highlight the need of keeping the count while doing Japa.
I know, from several other verses from the Tantras, that if the count is not kept then the Rakshasas, who hover around, take the fruits of the Japa.
And, I also know that in a Hindu ritualistic bath one has to keep in hand Kusha grass and only then the bath is said to be complete/purifying by scriptural standards. For example see the following verses from Devi Bhagavata Purana:
Without this bath, no acts bear any fruit. Therefore everyday, this morning bath is very necessary. Taking the Kus'a grass in hand, one is to perform one's bath and Sandhyâ. If for seven days, the morning ablutions are not taken, and if for three days, the Sandhyâs are not performed, if for twelve days, the daily Homas be not performed, the Brâhmanas become S’ûdras.
A verse quite similar to the one given above is also found in the Angira Smriti.
Now, I do not know why water is indispensable that it is said that without it the charity ritual will be a failure? How according to scriptures the water is to be employed here? What role does it play?
I am asking this question because previously I was involved in a charity ritual which was extended over many days but then nobody told me how to use water in the ritual and how it was important. So, I want to make sure that I do not make the same mistake next time around.