Shloka 21
Abhimanyu’s Assault on Bhīṣma’s Screen; Banner-Felling and Reinforcements (सौभद्र-भीष्म-समरः)
यत्तु प्रत्युपकारार्थ फलमुद्दिश्य वा पुन: । दीयते च परिक्लिष्टं तद् दानं राजसं स्मृतम्,किंतु जो दान क्लेशपूर्वकः तथा प्रत्युपकारके प्रयोजनसेः अथवा फलको दृष्टिमें रखकर* फिर दिया जाता है, वह दान राजस कहा गया है
yat tu pratyupakārārthaṁ phalam uddiśya vā punaḥ | dīyate ca parikliṣṭaṁ tad dānaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam ||
But that gift which is given with strain or reluctance, either with the aim of securing a return (repayment, favor, or counter-service) or with one’s eye fixed on some reward, is remembered as a rājasa (passion-driven) form of charity. The teaching frames giving not merely as an outward act, but as an ethical discipline of intention: when charity is entangled with calculation, expectation, or inner discomfort, it loses the purity associated with higher dharmic giving.
अजुन उवाच