The Gita in 18 days · Lesson 17 of 18
The gift that expects nothing back
In chapter 17, Krishna explains that people's food, worship and giving can each be done in three ways, matching the three moods we learned about in chapter 14.
Let's look at giving. Giving can be done to get something back, or grudgingly, when you don't really want to. It can be done carelessly, without respect for the person receiving. Or it can be done in the best way: given freely, at the right time, to someone who needs it, expecting nothing back.
That last kind is the purest gift. Krishna says it is given simply because giving is the right thing to do.
A pure gift might be shoveling an elderly neighbor's driveway and leaving before they can pay you. Or donating to a food bank without posting about it. Or sitting with a lonely classmate at lunch.
The test is simple. Ask yourself: "Would I still do this if no one ever found out?" If the answer is yes, it is a pure gift.
Gifts like this make the giver lighter, not heavier. They don't create debts or expectations. They just add a little more good to the world.
दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे। देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥
dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ dīyate ‘nupakāriṇe deśhe kāle cha pātre cha tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛitam
That alms given to one who does nothing in return, believing that a gift ought to be made in a fit place and time to a worthy person, that alms is accounted pure.
In plain words: A gift is pure when it is given because giving is right, to a worthy person, at the right time and place, and to someone who cannot repay you.
Ask the Swami about this lesson
A quick question while you read