Verse 7.86b

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

देशकालविधानेन द्रव्यं श्रद्धासमन्वितम् ।
पात्रे प्रदीयते यत् तु तद् धर्मस्य प्रसाधनम् ॥ ८६ (2) ॥

deśakālavidhānena dravyaṃ śraddhāsamanvitam |
pātre pradīyate yat tu tad dharmasya prasādhanam || 86b ||

That substance is conducive to merit which is given to a proper recipient, in good faith and in due accordance with time and place and form.—(86b)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Here ‘place’ stands for the ‘right place’, which is that which is other than the village inhabited by the giver himself; people away from their homes are likely to be subject to many inconveniences and wants, which may he removed by the gift;—‘Time’—when some one who is performing a sacrifice happens to run short of necessary supplies; or when an eclipse takes place; ‘Form’—the pouring of water, the pronouncing of the syllable ‘Svasti’ by the recipient, the proper preparation of the substance given away, the sweetness of disposition with which the gift is made; and so forth;

‘Substance’— cow, land, gold and so forth.

‘Faith’—a keen desire for fulfilment, the determination as to ‘how this may be accomplished.’

‘After death.’—This only indicates that the reward does not always follow immediately after the act of giving; it does not mean that it accrues always during the next life; specially as all that is meant in the case of all acts enjoined in the Veda is that they must bring their reward (and nothing is indicated regarding the time at which the reward is to accrue).—(86)