17. Gifts
i. General
Āpastamba
देशतः कालतः शौचतः सम्यक् प्रतिग्रहीतृत इति दानानि प्रतिपादयति ॥12
12 He should offer gifts in proper places, at appropriate times, on the occasion of purificatory rites, and to proper recipients. [A 2.15.12]
Gautama
स्वस्तिवाच्य भिक्षादानम् अप्पूर्वम् । ॥18 ददातिषु चैवं धर्म्येषु । ॥19 समद्विगुणसाहस्रानन्त्यानि फलान्यब्राह्मणब्राह्मणश्रोत्रियवेदपारगेभ्यः । ॥20 बहिर्वेदि । ॥21 भिक्षमाणेषु कृतान्नम् इतरेषु । ॥22 प्रतिश्रुत्याप्य् अधर्मसंयुक्ताय न दद्यात् । ॥23 क्रुद्धहृष्टभीतार्तलुब्धबालस्थविरमूढमत्तोन्मत्तवाक्यान्यनृतान्यपातकानि । ॥24
18 He shall give almsfood after getting the recipient to wish him well and pouring water. 19 The same applies to other righteous gifts. 20 A gift bears an equal reward when it is given to a non-Brahmin, twice as much when it is given to a Brahmin, a thousand times as much when it is given to a vedic scholar, and an infinite reward when it is given to one who has mastered the entire Veda. 21 Goods should be distributed outside the sacrificial arena to those begging in order to pay the teacher's fee, to perform a wedding, or to procure medicine, as also to the indigent, to those preparing to perform a sacrifice, to students, to travellers, and to those who have offered the Viśvajit sacrifice. 22 When others come to beg, let him give them cooked food. 23 When a request is made for an unlawful purpose, he should not give, even if he has already promised to do so. 24 Untrue statements made by people who are angry, jubilant, afraid, in pain, greedy, young, old, feeble-minded, drunk, or mad are not sins causing loss of caste. [G 5.18–24]
Baudhāyana
इदं चएवअपरं गुह्यम् उच्यमानं निबोधत ॥3 मुच्यते सर्वपापेभ्यो महतः पातकाद् ऋते ॥3 पवित्रैर् मार्जनं कुर्वन् रुद्रएकादशिनीं जपन् ॥4 पवित्राणि घृतैर् जुह्वत् प्रयच्छन् हेमगोतिलान् ॥4
3–4 Listen further to this other secret that I will disclose. A man is freed from all sins except the grievous sins causing loss of the caste by washing himself while reciting the purificatory verses, by reciting softly eleven Rudra verses, by making oblations of ghee while reciting the purificatory verses, and by giving gold, a cow, and sesame seeds. [B 4.6.3–4]
शस्त्रं विषं सुरा चाप्रतिगृह्याणि ब्राह्मणस्य ॥55
Vasiṣṭha
किम्चित्वेदमयम्पात्रम्किम्चित् पात्रम्तपस्मयम् ॥26 पात्राणाम् अपि तत् पात्रम्शूद्रअन्नम्यस्य नौदरे ॥26
26 Some are worthy to receive gifts because of their vedic learning, and others because of their austerities. Among all men worthy of receiving gifts, the most worthy is the man into whose stomach the food of a Śūdra has never entered. ... 30 A man who is rich in vedic recitation and comes from a good family; who is perfectly tranquil, devoted to performing sacrifices, and afraid of sin; who has vast knowledge and is patient with women; who is righteous, protects cows, and wears himself out with penances-such a man, they say, is worthy to receive gifts. 31 As milk, curd, ghee, or honey poured into an unbaked pot perishes because the pot was weak, as do the pot and those delicacies; 32 so when an ignorant man accepts a cow, gold, a garment, a horse, a piece of land, or sesame seeds, he is reduced to ashes like a piece of wood. [Va 6.26,30–32]
अग्नेसपत्यम्प्रथमम्सुवर्णम्भूस्वैष्णवी सूर्यसुतास्च गावः ॥16 तासाम् अनन्तम्फलम् अश्नुवीत यस्कान्चनम्गाम्च महीम्च दद्यात् ॥16 उपरुन्धन्ति दातारम्गौसश्वस्कनकम्क्षितिः ॥17 अश्रोत्रियस्य विप्रस्य हस्तम्दृष्ट्वा निराकृतेः ॥17
वैशाख्याम्पौर्णमास्याम्तु ब्राह्मणान् सप्त पञ्च वा ॥18 तिलान् क्षौद्रेण संयुक्तान् कृष्णान् वा यदि वाइतरान् ॥18 प्रीयताम्धर्मराजाइति यत्वा मनसि वर्तते ॥19 यावत्जीवकृतम्पापम्तत्क्षणातेव नश्यति ॥19 सुवर्णनाभम्कृत्वा तु सखुरम्कृष्णमार्गजम् ॥20
तिलैस्प्रच्छाद्य यस्दद्यात् तस्य पुण्यफलम्शृणु ॥20 ससुवर्णगुहा तेन सशैलवनकानना ॥21 चतुस्वक्त्रा भवेत्दत्ता पृथिवी नअत्र संशयः ॥21 कृष्णअजिने तिलान् कृत्वा हिरण्यम्मधुसर्पिषी ॥22 ददाति यः तु विप्राय सर्वम्तरति दुष्कृताम् इति ॥22 सर्वम्तरति दुष्कृतम् इति ॥22
16 Gold is the firstborn of Fire; land is the daughter of Visnu; and cows are the children of Sun. A man who gives gifts of gold, land, or cows obtains an eternal reward. 17 The cow, horse, gold, and land frustrate the donor when they see the outstretched hand of a Brahmin who is ignorant and neglectful of his rites. 18–19 On the full-moon day of April-May if someone gives to seven or five Brahmins black or white sesame seeds mixed with honey, saying, "May the King of Law rejoice!", or expressing any other wish he may have in mind, that very moment all the sins he has committed during his whole life will be wiped away. 20 Listen now to the merit that is the reward for giving the skin of a black antelope to which the legs are still attached, after gilding the navel with gold and covering the skin with sesame seeds: 21 "Undoubtedly by that gift he has in fact given the four-faced earth, together with its caves filled with gold and with its mountains, forests, and groves, 22 A man who places sesame seeds, gold, honey, and ghee upon a skin of a black antelope and gives it to a Brahmin overcomes all sins." [Va 28.16–22]
दानेन सर्वान् कामान् अवाप्नोति ॥1 चिरजीवित्वम्ब्रह्मचारी रूपवान् ॥2 अहिंसीउपपद्यते स्वर्गम् ॥3 अग्निप्रवेशात्ब्रह्मलोकः ॥4 मौनात् सौभाग्यम् ॥5 नागअधिपतिसुदकवासात् ॥6 निरुजस्क्षिणकोषः ॥7 तोयदस्सर्वकामसमृद्धः ॥8 अन्नप्रदाता सुचक्षुस्स्मृतिमान् ॥9 मेधावी सर्वतसभयदाता ॥10 गोप्रयुक्ते सर्वतीर्थौपस्पर्शनम् ॥11 शय्याआसनदानातन्तःपुरअधिपत्यम् ॥12 छत्रदानात्गृहलाभः ॥13 गृहप्रदस्नगरम् आप्नोति ॥14 उपानत्प्रदाता यनम् आसादयते ॥15 अथअपिउदाहरन्ति ॥16 यत् किम्चित् कुरुते पापम्पुरुषस्वृत्तिकर्षितः ॥16 अपि गोचर्ममात्रेण भूमिदानेन शुध्यति ॥16 विप्रायआचमनअर्थम्तु दद्यात् पूर्णकमण्डलुम् ॥17 प्रेत्य तृप्तिम्पराम्प्राप्य सोमपस्जायते पुनः ॥17 अनडुहाम्सहस्राणाम्दत्तानाम्धूर्यवाहिनाम् ॥18 सुपात्रे विधिवत्दानम्कन्यादानेन तत् समम् ॥18 त्रीणिआहुरतिदानानि गावस्पृथ्वी सरस्वती ॥19 अतिदानम्हि दानानाम्विद्यादानम्ततसधिकम् ॥19 आत्यन्तिकफलप्रदम्मोक्षसंसारमोचनम् ॥20 यसनसूयुसिमम्विद्वान् आचारम् अनुवर्तते ॥20 श्रद्दधानस्शुचिस्दान्तस्धारयेत्श्रुणुयातपि ॥21 विहाय सर्वपापानि नाकपृष्ठे महीयते इति ॥21 नाकपृष्ठे महीयतेइति ॥21
1 By giving gifts a man obtains all his wishes-2 a long life and rebirth as a handsome vedic student. 3 A man who refrains from causing injury to living beings goes to heaven. 4 By entering a fire, one attains the world of Brahman; 5 by keeping a vow of silence, one achieves prosperity; 6 and by living in water, one becomes the lord of elephants. 7 A man who gives until his store is exhausted becomes free from disease. 8 A man who gives water fulfils all his wishes. 9 A man who gives food gets a good eyesight and a keen memory. 10 A man who gives the gift of safety from all dangers becomes intelligent. 11 By allowing the use of cows, one gets the same reward as by bathing in all the sacred fords; 12 by giving beds and seats, one becomes the lord of a harem; 13 and by giving umbrellas, one gets a house. 14 A man who gives a house obtains a town. 15 A man who gives shoes obtains a vehicle. 16 Now, they also quote: "Whatever sin a man may have committed under the pressure of his occupation, he is cleansed from all that by giving a piece of land even as small as a cow's hide'.17If a man gives a pot full of water to a Brahmin for use in sipping, after death he obtains complete immunity to thirst and is reborn as a man who drinks Soma. 18 Giving one thousand oxen capable of drawing carts to a most worthy recipient according to the rules is equal to giving a virgin in marriage. 19 Three, they say, are super-gifts: cows, land, and knowledge. The gift of knowledge is superior to all gifts and surpasses even those super-gifts. 20–1 This is the rule of conduct that grants endless rewards and awards liberation with the release from the cycle of rebirth-a wise man who, free from envy. follows it, or a man, pure and self-controlled, who simply remembers or hears it with a trusting heart, sheds all his sins and rejoices in the very summit of heaven." [Va 29.1–21] 55 A Brahmin must not accept weapons, poison, or liquor as gifts. [Va 13.55]