Chapter XVII · Śloka 20
Śrī Kṛṣṇa uvāca
दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे |
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ||
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ||
dātavyam iti yad dānaṃ dīyate 'nupakāriṇe |
deśe kāle ca pātre ca tad dānaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam ||
deśe kāle ca pātre ca tad dānaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam ||
That gift which is given with the thought 'it must be given,' to one who has rendered no service, in the right place, at the right time, and to a worthy recipient — that is remembered as sāttvika charity.
Sāttvika dāna has three coordinates — place, time, and recipient — and one inner condition: the pure sense of obligation. Not reciprocity, not strategy, not emotion, but the simple recognition that giving is what one is called to do in this moment.