दातव्यम् इति यद् दानं दीयते ऽनुपकारिणे । देशे काले च पात्रे च तद् दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥
dātavyam iti yad dānaṃ dīyate 'nupakāriṇe | deśe kāle ca pātre ca tad dānaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam ||
Sāttvic dāna: given with 'this must be given,' to one expecting no return, at right place, time, and recipient.
Word by word (3)
- dātavyam iti yad dānaṃ dīyate 'nupakāriṇe
- — the gift (dānam) that is given (dīyate) with the conviction 'it ought to be given' (dātavyam iti = this must be given), to one who does not/will not render service in return (anupakāriṇe = non-service-renderer, no reciprocity expected)
- deśe kāle ca pātre ca
- — in the right place (deśe = place/location), at the right time (kāle = time), and to the right recipient (pātre = vessel/worthy recipient) — the three classical conditions of proper dāna; pātra = the right 'vessel' who can use the gift
- tad dānaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam
- — that gift (tad dānam) is held/remembered as (smṛtam = remembered, traditionally held) sāttvic (sāttvikaṃ) — smṛtam invokes the traditional memory/teaching; this is how sages have always defined pure giving
A gift given with the conviction 'this ought to be given', to one from whom no service is expected in return, at the right place and time and to a worthy recipient — that gift is held to be sāttvic.
A modern analogy
Sāttvic giving is like putting food out for birds — no expectation of return, no calculation, no ceremony. The giver gives because 'this is what should be done' (dātavyam), to someone in genuine need (anupakāriṇe), at the appropriate moment and context (deśa-kāla-pātra). The purity is in the motivation and method — not the size of the gift.
V20 begins the three-fold dāna (charity) classification (V20-22), the fourth and final domain of Ch.17's three-fold analysis alongside food/yajña/tapas. V20's sāttvic dāna perfectly mirrors V11's sāttvic yajña and V17's sāttvic tapas: in each case, the sāttvic version requires (1) the act performed because it is a duty (dātavyam/yaṣṭavyam/yukta), (2) without fruit-seeking (anupakāriṇe/aphalākāṅkṣin), and (3) proper form (deśa-kāla-pātra/vidhi-diṣṭa/śraddhayā parayā). The pattern reveals the consistent sāttvic principle across all domains.
Deśa-kāla-pātra (place-time-recipient) is the classical framework for appropriate dāna mentioned throughout the Dharmaśāstra literature. The 'right vessel' (pātra = a pot/container — someone who can hold and use the gift) is crucial: sāttvic giving is not random largesse but discerning gift to where it will do genuine good. Anupakāriṇe (no service-rendering in return) means the giver is not building social capital or karma-credit — they are simply performing the dharma of generosity.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
That gift which is given — knowing it to be a duty to give — to one who does no service, in place and in time and to a worthy person, that gift is held Sattvic. [1]
"To give is right" — gift given with this idea, to one who does no service in return, in a fit place and to a worthy person, that gift is held to be Sattvika. [4]
A gift which is made in the belief that it ought to be given, to one who will make no return, and which is given at a proper place and time and to a worthy person, is pronounced good. [9]
That gift which is made under the idea — 'It should be given', — to one from whom no return is expected, in proper place and time and to a worthy person, is said to be of the quality of goodness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
Sāttvic yajña: performed as ordained, without fruit-desire, with the conviction 'this must be done.'
Some say all karma is faulty and should be abandoned; others say yajña-dāna-tapas must not be abandoned.
Transcending Vedic merit, sacrifice, austerity, and charity — the yogi knowing this reaches the primordial Supreme.
Rājasic tapas: done for reception, honour, worship, and show — unstable and transient.
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.