Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

So first Krishna talked about Yajna then Tapa now He will talk about Dana.

Bg 17.20

dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ
dīyate ’nupakāriṇe
deśe kāle ca pātre ca
tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛtam

Synonyms: 

dātavyam — worth giving; iti — thus; yat — that which; dānam — charity; dīyate — is given; anupakāriṇe — irrespective of return; deśe — in a proper place; kāle — at a proper time; ca — also; pātre — to a suitable person; ca — and; tat — that; dānam — charity; sāttvikam — in the mode of goodness; smṛtam — is considered.

Translation: 

Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness.

dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ, dātavyam it is worth giving it is appropriate to give,
dīyate ’nupakāriṇe, when we give we don’t expect to get something

deśe kāle ca pātre ca, according to time place and circumstance

tad dānaṁ, that dana

sāttvikaṁ smṛtam, that dana is in goodness

The communality we see with all goodness are it is without attachment. One is not expecting a material result from it. And one give deśe kāle ca pātre ca, charity should be given to the right person at the right time. For example it is said that on Ekadasi we should give charity to Brahmana and things like that so when we do these things these are activities which benefit others and we do it at right time we get more benefit because according to time place and circumstance certain activities are considered more auspicious, and less auspicious certain time. 

Now Srila Prabhupada will talk about there is no mention of giving charity indiscriminately, we may wonder if poor are starving shouldn’t they be given charity? The point is not that they shouldn’t be given charity, the point is it should be given in way that help others, so in general in Vedic culture poor people were given food, generally people who are sudra mentality if they will get money they will misuse it, there are so many people in today’s society where husband is alcoholic such people abuses wife and children and use money to drink alcohol for such people giving money to them is curse for them. Better than giving them money give them sources that can’t be misused, when food is given it can’t be misused, here we need not have to hard hearted and insensitive to other’s suffering, but we have to be intelligent so that what we are offering to other’s for their help actually helps others.

End of transcription.