Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 25

 Chapter 17 verse 25 

“Persons who do not desire rewards of action, but seek to be free from material entanglements, utter the word “Tat” along with acts of austerity, sacrifice, and charity.” 

Further with starting all actions, austerities, sacrifices and charity with the primordial sound of Om, surrendering all actions to Supreme Divine-“Tat-That” will purify those actions and eliminate doer ship for all those actions. Sandhya vandanam (prayer at dawn, noon and dusk to the elements and the Divine) and other Vedic rites usually end with “OM TAT SAT BRAHMA ARPANAM ASTI” which means all that I did is surrendered completely to the parabrahmam which pervades the entire universe and all actions taken in it. Further it also ends with none of these material things are mine and belongs to Him alone. We may have lost some of this understanding since we do these rituals in the Sanskrit language and several of us don’t understand the meaning of what we are saying. Our ancestors have devised these daily actions which keeps us on the narrow righteous path always.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 24

 Chapter 17 verse 24 

“Therefore, when performing acts of sacrifice, offering charity, or undertaking penance, expounders of the Vedas always begin by uttering “Om” according to the prescriptions of Vedic injunctions.” 

Bhagwan now explains the significance of the Vedic mantra “Om Tat Sat”. He declares that all sacrifices or actions, charity, penance or other austerities are well begun with “Om” utterance which signifies the union of all material energy in this universe with that spiritual energy of the divine. It is considered the primordial sound and rings true throughout the universe.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 23

 Chapter 17 verse 23 

“The words “Om Tat Sat” have been declared as symbolic representations of the Supreme Absolute Truth, from the beginning of creation. From them came the priests, scriptures, and sacrifice.” 

Bhagwan explained thus far in this chapter the three modes of sacrifice, austerity and charity. Even the stipulations of goodness come from the Vedas which declares the transcendental nature of Universe in the essence of “Om Tat Sat”. Even the saatvic actions are still binding us to the maya of the Universe and so there is a need to break away from these attachments as well to reach the transcendental state.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 22

 Chapter 17 verse 22 

“And that charity, which is given at the wrong place and wrong time to unworthy persons, without showing respect, or with contempt, is held to be of the nature of ignorance.” 

Mindful actions are the key to ensuring that those actions are done according to dharma and scriptures. It ensures that the person does the right thing. Charity is to be given to deserving persons who will use the resources for good deeds or to promote good in the world. Charity needs to be given in a respectful and thoughtful way at the right place and time and not given with contempt. Anything given with doer ship does not even qualify as charity in sanatana scriptures. Buddha was once asked by a king what merit he would get for all the charities he had done and Buddha said none whatsoever since it was done in a mode of ignorance and doer ship.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 21

 Chapter 17 verse 21 

“But charity given with reluctance, with the hope of a return or in expectation of a reward, is said to be in the mode of passion.” 

There is a tamil saying that the “left hand should not know what the right hand is giving”. This means that charity needs to be done just for the sake of itself not to be famous, praised or expecting a return favor from it. I have experienced this myself that you wonder if the amount given was too much and you tend to regret if the receiving organization or person was deserving of so much or not. This kind of thought process and attitude is considered rajasic charity or charity done in the mode of passion. I am not surprised that I felt such thoughts considering the ship loads of rajas or passion in myself. A good balance of rajas, sattva and tamas is good for a balanced life and we need to ensure that those proportions don’t go out of balance.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 20

 Chapter 17 verse 20 

“Charity given to a worthy person simply because it is right to give, without consideration of anything in return, at the proper time and in the proper place, is stated to be in the mode of goodness.” 

“Skillful giving” is prescribed by Bhagwan Sri Krishna in this verse. My dad’s Guru, Swami Dayananda Saraswati used to stress on “Dhanena Adhanam Tara-Give more than you get” philosophy. All of us need to strive to give more than we get from the universe. Give more of our time, money, wealth, love, kindness etc. Charity is recommended to be given to worthy causes and people without expectation of anything in return. Charity needs to happen at the right place, right time and context and such acts are considered to be saattvic charity or charity of pure intent and from place of purity.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 19

 Chapter 17 verse 19 

“Austerity that is performed by those with confused notions, and which involves torturing the self or harming others, is described to be in the mode of ignorance.” 

There are yogis depicted standing on pins and needles or with very little clothing on extreme weather conditions. They might be exalted souls but present a wrong notion to society that austerities need to deny the body comforts. They don’t need to necessarily. Adi Shankara stresses “not” to emphasize on the body at all and treat it with respect and sustain it well but not accord it prime importance. Ignorant people are confused about notions of actions which either deprives themselves or actual cause harm to others while thinking they are doing something good.