17-22

अदेशकाले यत् दानम् अपात्रेभ्यः च दीयते ।
असत्कृतम् अवज्ञातम् तत् तामसम् उदाहृतम् ॥ २२ ॥

adezakAle yat dAnam apAtrebhyaH ca dIyate |
asatkRtam avajJAtam tat tAmasam udAhRtam || 22 ||

यत् दानम् दीयते [yat dAnam dIyate] That which is given अपात्रेभ्यः [apAtrebhyaH] to the undeserving, अदेशकाले [adezakAle] without an appropriate place and time असत्कृतम् [asatkRtam] without respect, अवज्ञातम् [avajJAtam] with contempt, तत् उदाहृतम् [tat udAhRtam] it is said to be तामसम् [tAmasam] in the quality of tamas .

When things are given in contempt to the undeserving at an inappropriate place and time, when there is no respectful action (like washing the others feet), when there is no touch of reverence, the act of giving is said to be in the quality of tamas .

In this way, the different forms of worship, discipline and charity were told. The different forms in them come from the three qualities . The Lord’s directives for those activities are in the scriptures.

What are the Lord’s instructions?

Next, the Lord describes their characteristics, when they are aligned with the sound of ‘Om’ and qualified by the sounds of ‘tat’ and ‘sat’.