Chapter 17 · The three kinds of faith
Bhagavad Gita 17.20
Given because it ought to be given.
Shri Bhagavan
दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे ।
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥
dātavyamiti yaddānaṁ dīyate’nupakāriṇe / deśe kāle ca pātre ca taddānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛtam
Dana given because giving is right, to someone who can return nothing, in the right place, at the right time and to a fit recipient, is held to be sattvic.
हिंदी · जो दान इसलिए दिया जाता है कि देना उचित है, ऐसे व्यक्ति को दिया जाता है जो बदले में कुछ नहीं दे सकता, और उचित स्थान, उचित समय तथा योग्य पात्र को दिया जाता है, वह सात्त्विक माना गया है।
What it means
Given because it ought to be given.
A gift given as a duty, to one who can make no return, at the right place and time and to a worthy person — that gift is called sattvic, pure.
This is the Trust’s own reading, written for this site. The verse above it is the text.
Verses that share its vocabulary
Near it in the text’s own words.
- 16.1Fearlessness, a clean and settled mind, steadiness in knowledge and in yoga, giving, restraint of the senses, sacrifice, study of the scriptures, austerity, and being straight with people.
- 8.28The yogi who knows all this passes beyond whatever merit is laid down for the Vedas, for sacrifices, for austerities and for gifts, and reaches the supreme and original abode.
- 10.5Non-violence, evenness of mind, contentment, austerity, giving, fame and disgrace: these many different states of living beings arise from me alone.
- 11.48Not by study of the Vedas or by sacrifice, not by gifts, not by rituals, not by harsh austerities can I be seen in this form in the world of men by anyone but you, great warrior of the Kurus.
- 11.53Not by the Vedas, not by austerity, not by giving, not by sacrifice can I be seen in the form in which you have just now seen me.
- 17.7Even the food each person prefers is of three kinds, and so are yajna, tapas and dana. Listen now to how they differ from one another.
Chosen by shared uncommon vocabulary, weighted so that a rare word counts for far more than a common one. A reading aid, not a claim that these verses mean the same thing.