A core teaching · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“A gift can become degrading when respect is missing.”
Charity given at the wrong place and time, to an unworthy recipient, without respect and with contempt, is called tamasic.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyat an improper place and time · which · to unworthy recipients · and · is given · without respect · with contempt · that · tamasic · is said to be
A gift given at the wrong time and place, to the wrong person, without respect, is a low form of giving.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga" (The Three Kinds of Faith).
Verse 22 sits in Chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita — Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga, "The Three Kinds of Faith". The chapter has 28 verses in total.
You hand someone cash while looking at your phone, hoping they go away. The act may look generous, but the attitude turns it cold.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts attention from the outer act of giving to the quality of respect behind it.
What this verse means
A gift given at the wrong time and place, to the wrong person, without respect, is a low form of giving.
Context & commentary
Krishna is classifying kinds of charity for Arjuna on the battlefield, where every action reveals the state of the heart. After praise of pure and self-interested giving, he now names the lowest form: giving badly, to the wrong recipient, with disrespect.
Why this verse still matters
You hand someone cash while looking at your phone, hoping they go away. The act may look generous, but the attitude turns it cold.
“Even generosity loses its value when it is careless or contemptuous.”