Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 17, Verse 22
Verse 22
The Yoga of the Three Types of Faith
The gift that is given at the wrong place, the wrong time, to unworthy recipients, without respect and with contempt — that is declared to be tamasic.
Context & Meaning
The tamasic gift is the inversion of the sattvic: wrong place (adeśa), wrong time (akāla), wrong recipient (apātra — literally an unworthy vessel, one who cannot receive the gift beneficially). And two qualities of manner: asatkṛta (given without proper respect, carelessly) and avajñāta (with contempt — the gift that humiliates the recipient rather than honouring them). Giving with contempt — the charitable donation designed to remind the recipient of their inferiority — is a form of violence disguised as generosity. The tamasic gift does not serve the other; it serves the giver's sense of superiority or relieves an unwanted possession without genuine care for where it lands.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaAvajñātam — with contempt. The contemptuous gift is the most revealing indicator of the tamasic heart: it cannot even perform the gesture of generosity without betraying the underlying disdain. True giving requires the recognition of the equal dignity of the recipient — the acknowledgment that the one who receives is not lesser for being in need. When contempt accompanies the gift, it negates whatever material benefit the gift might carry.