Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17, Verse 20

दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे । देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम्

dātavyamiti yaddānaṃ dīyate'nupakāriṇe | deśe kāle ca pātre ca taddānaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam

Translation

That gift which is given — knowing it to be a duty to give — to one who does no service, in place and in time, and to a worthy person, that gift is held Sāttvic.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

dātavyam

ought to be given

iti

thus

yat

that

dānam

gift

dīyate

is given

anupakāriṇe

to the non-requiting

deśe

in place

kāle

in time

ca

and

pātre

in a right person

ca

and

tat

that

dānam

gift

sāttvikam

sāttvic

smṛtam

is remembered

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

"Given to one who does no service": to one who cannot return the good, or to one from whom, though able to return the good, no such return is expected. "Place": Kurukṣetra etc. "Time": Saṃkrānti (passage of the sun from one Zodiacal sign to another), etc. "Worthy": as learned in the six sciences (aṅgas) etc.