---
type: Concept
bundle: dharmic-ethics
bundle_version: "0.5.0"
id: dana
title: "Dāna — Giving as Sacrificial Act"
iast: "dāna"
devanagari: "दान"
description: "Giving as a dharmic and sacrificial act whose value lies in the manner and the giver's non-attachment, graded by how it is given; the social face of the bundle. Not charity, not philanthropy, not a transactional donation, and not almsgiving."
darshana:
  - pan-dharmic (sādhāraṇa-dharma)
  - Dharmaśāstra
school_scope: "Giving as one of the foremost dharmic duties; the Gītā (17.20-22) grades dāna sāttvic / rājasic / tāmasic by the manner of giving. Related to but distinct from bhakti sevā (service rather than gift)."
text_source: "Bhagavad Gītā 17.20-22; Manusmṛti; Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva"
tags:
  - dana
  - giving
  - ethics
  - tier-3
not:
  - term: "charity"
    why: "charity is structured giver-to-needy and can carry pity and the giver's pride; the worth of dāna lies in the manner and the giver's inner non-attachment, the recipient (pātra) honored rather than pitied, and at its height it purifies the giver rather than elevating a benefactor"
    instead: "Render dāna as giving as a sacrificial, purifying act measured by how it is given; not as charity."
  - term: "philanthropy"
    why: "modern philanthropy is donor-centric, often reputational, strategic, and measured by scale and named recognition; dāna is graded entirely by HOW it is given (Gītā 17.20-22), its high form being gupta-dāna, anonymous giving to one who cannot reciprocate, the inverse of the named-donor instinct"
  - term: "donation (transactional)"
    why: "a donation transfers surplus and may expect a return, a receipt, or goodwill; dāna is a yajña that discharges ṛṇa (one's debts to gods, sages, and ancestors) and purifies the giver, a sacrificial act, not a transfer of what one happens not to need"
  - term: "almsgiving"
    why: "almsgiving frames the recipient as a beggar receiving from a superior; dāna to a worthy recipient is an honor to give, and the receiver of dāna may even confer grace by accepting, reversing the hierarchy charity assumes"
related:
  - /concepts/asteya.md
  - /concepts/aparigraha.md
  - /concepts/nishkama-karma.md
  - /concepts/satya.md
timestamp: "2026-06-25"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Dāna — दान

**Not:** charity, philanthropy, donation (transactional), almsgiving

Dāna is giving raised to a sacrificial act: the offering of what is one's own in a way whose entire worth lies in the manner of the giving and the non-attachment of the giver. It is the social face of this bundle, the point where the inner disciplines turn outward into the world of others, and the tradition measures it not by the size of the gift but by how it is given.

## Etymology

From √*dā* (to give). Dāna is "the act of giving, the gift." The same root underlies the Latin *donum* and the English *donate*, but where the modern descendants drifted toward the object transferred, dāna keeps the accent on the act and the giver's disposition within it.

## What It Actually Means

The Gītā states the heart of it by grading dāna into three (17.20-22). Sāttvic dāna is given as a matter of duty, to a worthy recipient (pātra), at the right place and time, to one who can make no return, with no expectation of anything back. Rājasic dāna is given grudgingly, or for the sake of a return, or for the fruit it will bring the giver. Tāmasic dāna is given at the wrong place and time, to the unworthy, without respect, or with contempt. The striking implication is that the same material gift can be the highest or the lowest dāna depending entirely on the manner: a large gift given for recognition is inferior; a small one given anonymously to one who cannot repay is superior. Dāna also functions as yajña: giving discharges the ṛṇas, the debts a person is born owing, and so it is woven into the cosmic economy, not an optional benevolence. The honored form is gupta-dāna, the gift given in secret, precisely because hiddenness strips away the last residue of self-seeking.

## Why the Substitutes Fail

"Charity" and "philanthropy" both center the giver and measure by the recipient-outcome (relief delivered, scale achieved, the named wing of a hospital), missing that dāna is graded by the giver's manner and inner freedom and that its high form is anonymous. "Donation" makes giving a transfer of surplus, often with a receipt or expected goodwill, where dāna is a sacrificial discharge of debt that purifies the one who gives. "Almsgiving" assumes a hierarchy of superior-giver over beggar-receiver that dāna specifically dissolves.

## Dāna and Sevā (a Neighbor to Keep Distinct)

Dāna is the gift transferred; sevā (in `okf/bhakti-marga/`) is the service rendered with one's own hands. Both are selfless, and both can be offered to the Divine in all. But dāna gives a thing, while sevā gives labor and presence; one can perform sevā with nothing to give materially, and one can give dāna without serving. Held together with niṣkāma-karma, dāna is simply desireless action in the specific form of giving.

## Audience Metaphor

Think of two people who each give the same large sum to the same cause. The first gives at a gala, name on the program, photograph taken, the warm glow of being seen to give. The second wires it quietly, anonymously, having checked that it reaches someone who can never thank or repay them, and tells no one. The cause receives identical money. But the tradition is unembarrassed about which is the higher dāna, and it is not the louder one. Dāna asks a question philanthropy never quite does: not how much did you give, but what was left of your ego when you gave it.

## Cross-References
- [Asteya](asteya.md) — the giver's open posture is the exact inverse of the taker's grasp
- [Aparigraha](aparigraha.md) — giving freely is non-grasping enacted toward others
- [Niṣkāma-Karma](nishkama-karma.md) — dāna is desireless action in the particular form of giving
- [Satya](satya.md) — dāna given for show is a kind of untruth about one's own motive

## Citations

1. [Bhagavad Gītā](/references/bhagavad-gita.md) 17.20-22 — dāna graded sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic by the manner of giving
2. [Manusmṛti](/references/manusmriti.md) — dāna among the foremost duties; the worthy recipient (pātra) and the merit of right giving
3. [Mahābhārata](/references/mahabharata.md) — the Anuśāsana Parva's extended teaching on dāna, its forms, and gupta-dāna
