Sanskrit
अदेशकाले यद्दानमपात्रेभ्यश्च दीयते । असत्कृतमवज्ञातं तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ॥
adeśakāle yad dānam apātrebhyaś ca dīyate asatkṛtam avajñātaṃ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
Translation
That alms given at unfit place and time, and to unworthy persons, disrespectfully and contemptuously, that is declared of darkness.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Tamasic giving simply inverts every condition verse 20 set for sattvic giving — wrong place, wrong time, wrong recipient, given with contempt rather than respect. This closes the fourth and final triad (after food, sacrifice, and austerity), completing the chapter’s descriptive survey before it turns, in the next verse, to the Om Tat Sat formula that ties the whole typology back to a single metaphysical anchor. Tāmasic giving is careless of every dimension — wrong time, wrong place, wrong recipient — and avajñātam, “with contempt,” the gift thrown rather than offered. The manner degrades what the substance might have been.
Study deeper
Word by word
- adeśakāle yad dānamअदेशकाले यद् दानं
- the gift [given] at the wrong place and time (adeśa-kāle + yat + dānam)
- apātrebhyaś ca dīyateअपात्रेभ्यश् च दीयते
- and given to unworthy persons (apātrebhyaḥ + ca + dīyate)
- asatkṛtam avajñātaṃअसत्कृतं अवज्ञातं
- without courtesy, with contempt (asat-kṛtam + avajñātam)
- tat tāmasam udāhṛtamतत् तामसं उदाहृतं
- that is declared tāmasic (tat + tāmasam + udāhṛtam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
There’s an echo here of verse 15’s rule for speech — that truth alone isn’t enough, it also has to be delivered kindly. This verse applies the same logic to giving: even a gift given at the wrong time to an unworthy recipient could conceivably still be excused as a mistake of judgment, but asatkṛtam avajñātam, given disrespectfully and contemptuously, makes the manner of delivery, not just the substance of the gift, part of what the guna grade actually measures.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- The way you give something matters as much as whether you give it at all — a favor delivered with visible contempt or reluctance can undo the good of the thing itself, the same way unkind truth-telling undoes honesty's value.
Professional
- Delivering correct, even generous feedback with visible contempt for the recipient voids much of its value — the substance of what you're offering a colleague matters less than you'd think if the manner of delivery communicates disrespect.
Family & Social
- Helping a family member while making clear you resent doing it, or think less of them for needing it, can cost you more goodwill than not helping at all — the manner of the gift is doing as much work as the gift itself.
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