कच्चिन्नाभिहतोऽभावैः शब्दादिभिरमङ्गलैः ।
न दत्तमुक्तमर्थिभ्य आशया यत्प्रतिश्रुतम् ॥४०॥

kaccin nÄbhihato 'bhÄvaiḥ
Å›abdÄdibhir amaá¹…galaiḥ
na dattam uktam arthibhya
ÄÅ›ayÄ yat pratiÅ›rutam

 kaccit - whether; na - could not; abhihataḥ - addressed by; abhÄvaiḥ - unfriendly; Å›abda-Ädibhiḥ - by sounds; amaá¹…galaiḥ - inauspicious; na - did not; dattam - give in charity; uktam - is said; arthibhyaḥ - unto one who asked; ÄÅ›ayÄ - with hope; yat - what; pratiÅ›rutam - promised to be paid.


Text

Has someone addressed you with unfriendly words or threatened you? Could you not give charity to one who asked, or could you not keep your promise to someone?

Purport

A kṣatriya or a rich man is sometimes visited by persons who are in need of money. When they are asked for a donation, it is the duty of the possessor of wealth to give in charity in consideration of the person, place and time. If a kṣatriya or a rich man fails to comply with this obligation, he must be very sorry for this discrepancy. Similarly, one should not fail to keep his promise to give in charity. These discrepancies are sometimes causes of despondency, and thus failing, a person becomes subjected to criticism, which might also be the cause of Arjuna’s plight.