17.21

Sanskrit

यत्तु प्रत्युपकारार्थं फलमुद्दिश्य वा पुनः । दीयते च परिक्लिष्टं तद्दानं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥

yat tu pratyupakārārthaṃ phalam uddiśya vā punaḥ dīyate ca parikliṣṭaṃ tad dānaṃ rājasaṃ smṛtam

Translation

That given with a view to receiving in return, or looking for fruit again, or grudgingly, that alms is accounted of passion.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Rajasic giving fails on exactly the axis sattvic giving passed: it’s given expecting something back, or reluctantly (parikliṣṭam, literally “with distress” — given while resenting the giving). The addition of grudging reluctance is a useful detail the pattern hasn’t shown so explicitly before — rajas here isn’t intensity or excess so much as transactional calculation dressed up as generosity.