अदेशकाले यद् दानम् अपात्रेभ्यश् च दीयते । असत्कृतम् अवज्ञातं तत् तामसम् उदाहृतम् ॥
adeśa-kāle yad dānam apātrebhyaś ca dīyate | asat-kṛtam avajñātaṃ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam ||
Tāmasic dāna: given at wrong place/time, to unworthy recipients, without respect, with contempt.
Word by word (3)
- adeśa-kāle yad dānam apātrebhyaś ca dīyate
- — gift (dānam) that is given (dīyate) at the wrong place (adeśa = non-place/improper place) and time (kāle — here adeśa-kāle = wrong place-time together), and to unworthy recipients (apātrebhyaḥ = non-pātra, not the right vessel/container)
- asat-kṛtam avajñātam
- — without proper respect (asat-kṛtam = not done with due honor) and with contempt/disrespect (avajñātam = disregarded, despised) — the giving act itself is tainted by contempt
- tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
- — that (tat) is declared (udāhṛtam) tāmasic (tāmasam) — tāmasic dāna is the total inversion of V20: wrong place-time, wrong recipient, contemptuous manner
The gift that is given at the wrong place and time, to unworthy persons, without proper respect or with contempt — that is declared tāmasic.
A modern analogy
Tāmasic giving is throwing food scraps at someone while looking down on them. Or giving the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong moment — without any discernment, without respect, sometimes with active contempt. The external act of 'giving' is present but every quality that makes giving virtuous is absent.
V22 closes the three-fold dāna classification by inverting every condition from V20's sāttvic dāna. V20: right place+time, right pātra (recipient), given as duty without seeking return. V22: wrong place+time, apātra (wrong recipient), without respect, with contempt. The depth of tāmasic dāna is reached in avajñāta (with contempt) — the giver actively looks down on the recipient. This is the opposite not just of sāttvic giving but of basic human dignity.
Apātra (wrong vessel) as a concept reflects the traditional understanding that a gift must be matched to the recipient's capacity to use it rightly — whether material goods, knowledge, or even food. Giving weapons to the violent, giving knowledge of dark practices to the unstable, giving food in a way that harms — all are apātra-dāna. Tamas here is manifested as indiscrimination (aviveka) — the inability to see context, purpose, or the recipient's nature.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The gift that is given at a wrong place or time, to unworthy persons, without respect or with insult, that is declared to be Tamasic. [1]
The gift that is given at the wrong place or time, to unworthy persons, without regard or with disdain, that is declared to be Tamasika. [4]
The gift which is given at an improper place and time, to unworthy persons, without respect, and with contempt, is declared to be dark. [9]
That gift which is made at an improper time or place, and to unworthy persons, or without proper respect, or even with disdain, is said to be of the quality of darkness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
Victory without the people you love — what does it cost, and what is it worth?
Greed blinds the other side — but we can still see. That sight is both burden and responsibility.
I am the strength of the strong, free from craving — and the desire in beings that does not conflict with dharma.
When Vedic merit is exhausted, soma-drinkers return from heaven to the mortal world, going and coming.
Those who practice ghora tapas without śāstric sanction, driven by dambha, ahaṃkāra, kāma and rāga — āsurī tapas.