Shloka 18
Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda: Aśuddha-Sevana, Guṇa-Dr̥ṣṭi, and Sāṃkhya–Yoga Ekārthatā
Mahābhārata 12.293
अभिगम्य च तत् तुष्ट्या दत्तमाहुरभिष्ठतम् । याचितेन तु यद् दत्तं तदाहुर्मध्यमं बुधा:
abhigamya ca tat tuṣṭyā dattam āhur abhiṣṭatam | yācitena tu yad dattaṃ tad āhur madhyamaṃ budhāḥ ||
Parāśara said: “A gift offered willingly—when one goes oneself to the recipient and gives with heartfelt satisfaction—is declared the most desirable form of giving. But what is given only after being asked for is regarded by the wise as a middling kind of gift.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The moral value of charity depends greatly on intention and initiative: giving proactively and joyfully is praised as the highest, while giving only after solicitation is considered merely average.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, the sage Parāśara instructs on standards of dāna (gift-giving), ranking gifts by the giver’s attitude and whether the giver takes initiative or waits to be asked.