Chapter 17 · Verse 22 · Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 17.22
Sanskrit
अदेशकाले यद्दानमपात्रेभ्यश्च दीयते।असत्कृतमवज्ञातं तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्।।17.22।।
Transliteration
adeśha-kāle yad dānam apātrebhyaśh cha dīyate asat-kṛitam avajñātaṁ tat tāmasam udāhṛitam
In plain words
You know the ache of giving—money, time, love, effort—and then watching it turn bitter. Maybe you helped someone who didn't appreciate it, or gave from a place of needing to be seen as good, or gave at exactly the wrong moment and made things worse. Krishna says: the poison isn't in your generosity itself, but in the timing, the hidden expectation, the edge of judgment you wrapped around it. When you can give without needing proof that it mattered, without scorekeeping, without contempt for who receives it—that's when your open hand actually heals instead of harms.
Word by Word
When charity becomes an instrument of ego rather than love—given at the wrong moment, to the unworthy, with contempt or carelessness—it descends into tamas, the darkness of ignorance. The Gita teaches us that even our most generous impulses can obscure truth if divorced from wisdom and proper discernment.
True giving requires right timing, right recipient, and a heart free from judgment or expectation—transforming a transaction into an act of grace that uplifts both giver and receiver.
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Bhagavad Gita 17.22 — BG 17.22
Your Mantra Prescription
This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?
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