Bhagavad Gita 17.20 is Chapter 17, Verse 20, in Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Three Types of Faith). Below are the Sanskrit text, a transliteration, a plain-English translation and an explanation.
dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ dīyate 'nupakāriṇe deśe kāle ca pātre ca tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛtam
"Charity given as a duty, to one from whom no return is expected, at the proper place, time, and to a worthy person, that is sattvic charity."
What This Means:
Sattvic charity is given because it should be given, to someone who cannot return the favor, at appropriate times and places, to worthy recipients. It's selfless giving.
Going Deeper:
Marks of sattvic charity: (1) 'dātavyam iti', 'this ought to be given' (duty-based). (2) 'Anupakāriṇe', to one who cannot reciprocate. (3) 'Deśe', proper place. (4) 'Kāle', proper time. (5) 'Pātre', worthy recipient. No strings attached, no expectation of return, given wisely. This is pure generosity.
How To Apply This:
Give because giving is right, not to get something back. Choose recipients wisely, people who genuinely need and will benefit. Don't give to those who will misuse, and don't give expecting favors.
Where this verse sits
Chapter 17 sorts human religious life by the three gunas: faith, worship, food, sacrifice, austerity and, in verses 20 to 22, charity. Verse 20 describes sattvic giving; verse 21 describes rajasic giving, done grudgingly or to get something back; verse 22 describes tamasic giving, at the wrong place and time, to the wrong person, without respect. The chapter closes with the formula om tat sat, which sanctifies gifts as well as sacrifices and austerities.
What the words say
Datavyam iti, 'thinking, this ought to be given', makes the motive duty rather than gain. Anupakarine, 'to one who cannot repay', removes the transaction. Deshe kale cha patre cha, 'at the right place, at the right time, and to a worthy recipient', supplies the judgement: sattvic giving is not indiscriminate. Shankara illustrates place with a sacred site and time with an auspicious occasion, and patra, the fit recipient, was a settled idea in the law books, where the worth of a gift depended on who received it. Tad danam sattvikam smritam, 'that gift is held to be sattvic', gives the verdict.
A common misreading
The verse is sometimes read as praising indiscriminate generosity, and its middle line says the opposite: the giver is expected to choose the occasion and the recipient with care. What it removes is not judgement but return. The Gita counts dana among the qualities of the divine nature in 16.1 and among the three acts, with sacrifice and austerity, that 18.5 says must never be given up because they purify the doer. Giving, in this view, is a discipline for the giver first, and the test of it is whether one would give the same gift knowing that no one would ever know.
Key Sanskrit Terms: