In plain words
A gift given because it ought to be given, to one who cannot repay, at the proper place, time, and to a worthy recipient, is remembered as sāttvika.
Word for word
The dāna that is given [thinking] 'it is to be given', to one who does no service in return, in [the right] place and time and to a worthy recipient: that dāna is held [to be] sāttvika.
दातव्यमिति यद् दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणेदेशे काले च पात्रे च तद् दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम्
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
इदानीं दानत्रैविध्यम् उच्यते —
दातव्यमिति एवं मनः कृत्वा यत् दानं दीयते अनुपकारिणे प्रत्युपकारासमर्थाय, समर्थायापि निरपेक्षं दीयते, देशे पुण्ये कुरुक्षेत्रादौ, काले सङ्क्रान्त्यादौ, पात्रे च षडङ्गविद्वेदपारग इत्यादौ, तत् दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥ २० ॥
In plain words
Now the three kinds of giving are stated —
The mind is set on one thing only: this is to be given. Then it is given — to someone who does the giver no favour back, who has no means of returning anything. And even where the recipient could easily repay, it is given with no eye on the repayment. It is given in a holy place, at Kurukṣetra or somewhere of that kind; at a sacred time, a solar transit or such; and to a worthy recipient — a man who knows all six limbs of Vedic learning, one who has gone the whole way through the Veda, and others like him. That kind of giving the tradition calls sāttvika.
Close to the Sanskrit
Now the threefoldness of giving is stated —
Having made the mind thus — 'it is to be given' — that gift which is given to a non-requiter, to one incapable of a return favour; and even to one capable, it is given without expectation; in a place, in a holy one, Kurukṣetra and the like; at a time, a solar transit and the like; and in a recipient, one who knows the six limbs, one who has crossed to the far shore of the Veda, and the like — that gift is declared sāttvika.
▸Gītā Vāhini
“కొందరు ఆస్తికులు దానధర్మాదులు కూడనూ దేహ తపస్సుగా భావింతురు. మంచిదే. అయితే దేశ కాల పాత్రత ననుసరించి కూడనూ దానము చేయవలెను. ఎట్లన, యే ప్రదేశమున విద్యావిధానము లేక కష్టపడుచుందురో అచట పాఠశాలలును, ఆరోగ్యహీనులై రోగ పీడితులై బాధపడు ప్రదేశములందు ఆరోగ్య సౌకర్యములు కలిగించుట, అతివృష్టి అనావృష్టులచే అల్లాడు వారలకు ఆకలి దప్పులను తీర్చి ఆదుకొనవలెను. బ్రహ్మవిద్య, ధర్మ ప్రబోధనలు, పరోపకార ప్రవర్తనలు, పాత్రము చూచి ఇవ్వవలెను. అట్లు విచారణ చేసి దేని యందు ఏ వ్యక్తి శక్తి హీనమై వ్యధనొందుచుండునో అట్టి వానికి అవసరమైన దానిని ఇచ్చుట సాత్విక దానమని అందురు.” “కృష్ణా! దానము ఎట్లు చేసిననూ దానమే కదా! అందులో సాత్వికము, రాజసికము, తామసికమని మార్పులూ వేరే యున్నవా?”
In plain words
“Some believers regard dāna, dharma and the like as bodily tapas too. That is good. But dāna must also be made with regard to place, time and the worthiness of the recipient. How so? Where people are suffering for want of any system of education, there schools; in places where people suffer, in poor health and afflicted by disease, health care must be provided; and those who are distressed by too much rain or by no rain must be helped, their hunger and thirst relieved. Brahmavidyā, the teaching of Dharma, and acts that help others must be given with an eye to the worthiness of the one who receives. When, after such inquiry, one gives to a person what he needs, in whatever matter he lacks strength and is suffering, that is called sāttvika dāna.” “Kṛṣṇa! However dāna is made, it is dāna all the same, is it not? Are there further distinctions in it, sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika?”