The sixteen great gifts (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: Shodasha-Maha-dana; IAST: Ṣoḍaśa-Mahā-dāna) refers to a category of ritual donations mentioned in the Puranic texts of ancient

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The most prominent of these donations include the tula-purusha — weighing of a person and the donation of equivalent weight in gold, and hiranya-garbha — the donation of a golden pot.

History

The earliest inscriptions that mention the sixteen great gifts as a category date from the 8th century onward, but these great gifts have been described in the earlier literature, such as the ''

Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...

''. Some of these donations included in the category pre-date the concept of sixteen great gifts. For example, the '' Atharvaveda''-'' parishishta'', composed in the 1st millennium BCE, describes tula-purusha, hiranya-garbha, and gosahasra. The section of the ''Matsya Purana'' that mentions the sixteen great gifts appears to have been composed during 550-650 CE. It states that several ancient kings performed the great gifts. The ''

Linga Purana The ''Linga Purana'' (लिङ्गपुराण, IAST: ) is one of the eighteen '' Mahapuranas'', and a ''Shaivism'' text of Hinduism. The text's title ''Linga'' refers to the iconographical symbol for Shiva. The author(s) and date of the ...

'' also mentions the sixteen great donations; according to R. C. Hazara, the relevant portion of the text was composed during c. 600-1000 CE, most probably after 800 CE. The great gifts are also described in the later digests devoted to the topic of charity (

dāna Dāna (Devanagari: दान, IAST: Dānam) is a Sanskrit and Pali word that connotes the virtue of generosity, charity or giving of alms in Indian philosophies. In Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, dāna is the practice of cultivati ...

), such as Ballala's ''Dana-sagara'', and the ''Danakhanda'' section of

Hemadri Hemādri Paṇḍit, popularly known as Hemāḍapanta, was a polymath and a prime minister from 1259 to 1274 C.E. in the regimes of King Mahādev (1259–1271) and King Ramachandra (1271–1309) of Seuna Yādav Dynasty of Devagiri, which ruled i ...

's ''Chaturvarga-chintamani'' (13th century). The

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty ...

king

Pulakeshin I Pulakeshin (IAST: Pulakeśin, r. c. 540–567) was the first sovereign ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi (modern Badami). He ruled parts of the present-day Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states in the western and cen ...

(c. 540-567) is known to have performed the hiranyagarbha ritual (although not mentioned as a Great Gift) to proclaim his sovereignty. The earliest known epigraphically-attested donations called the "great gifts" were made by the 7th century Pandya king

Jayantavarman Jayantavarman (''r. c''. 654–670 CE), known in Tamil as Seliyan Sendan, was a Pandya ruler of early historic south India. He is best known for extending the Pandya rule to the Chera country (Kerala). He was succeeded by his son Maravarman Ar ...

(alias Cendan). According to his inscription, the king performed three of the great gifts: hiranya-garbha, go-sahasra, and tula-pursuha. The Rashtrakuta king

Dantidurga Dantidurga (reigned 735–756 CE), also known as Dantivarman II was the founder of the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta. Reu (1933), p54 His capital was based in Gulbarga region of Karnataka. His successor was his uncle Krishna I who extended h ...

(c. 753 CE) performed a Great Gift (''mahadana'') ceremony, apparently as a replacement for the Vedic shrauta rituals. By the time of the imperial Cholas (c. 10th century), the Great Gift ceremony had become the principal sign of a king's beneficence, overlordship, and independence. The inscriptions of the

Gahadavala dynasty The Gahadavala dynasty (IAST: Gāhaḍavālas), also Gahadavalas of Kanauj, was a Rajput dynasty that ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Varanas ...

(11th-12th century) mention three of the great gifts: tulapurusha, gosahasra, and pancha-langala (or pancha-langalaka). The Chandela king

Dhanga Dhanga (r. c. 950-999 CE), also known as Dhaṇgadeva in inscriptions, was a king of the Chandela dynasty of India. He ruled in the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh). Dhanga established the sovereignty of the Chande ...

(r. c. 950-999 CE) and the Kalachuri king

Yashahkarna Yashahkarna ( IAST: Yaśaḥakarṇa, r. c. 1073-1123 CE) was a ruler of the Kalachuri dynasty of Tripuri in central India. His kingdom was centered around the Chedi or Dahala region in present-day Madhya Pradesh. During Yashahkarna's reign, the ...

(r. c. 1073-1123 CE) are known to have performed tulapurusha. The Sena king

Lakshmana Sena Lakshmana Sena (reign: 1178–1206), also called Lakshman Sen in modern indian languages, was the ruler from the Sena dynasty of the Bengal region on the Indian subcontinent. His rule lasted for 28 years; and extended to much of the eastern re ...

(r. c. 1178-1206) performed the great gift of Hemashva-ratha, otherwise called Hiranyashva-ratha. In the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

of the 14th-16th centuries, the Great Gift ceremonies were used to proclaim the rulers' beneficence and independence. For example, the Nallur inscription of king

Harihara II Harihara II (1342–1404 CE) was a emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty. He patronised Kannada poet Madhura, a Jaina. An important work on Vedas was completed during his time. He earned the titles ''Vaidikamarga Sthapana ...

mentions that he performed the sixteen great gifts.

List of the great gifts

The sixteen great gifts, according to the ''Matsya Purana'', are as follows: (names in IAST) # Tulā-puruṣa (Tula-purusha), the gift of the man on the scales (weighing of a person and donation of equivalent weight in gold) # Hiraṇya-garbha, the gift of the golden embryo (pot) # Brahmāṇḍa, the gift of the Brahma-egg # Kalpa-pādapa, the gift of the wish-granting tree # Go-sahasra, the gift of a thousand cows # Hiraṇya-kāmadhenu, the gift of the wish-granting cow # Hiraṇyāśva (Hiranyashva), the gift of the golden horse # Pañca-lāṅgala (Pancha-langala), the gift of the five ploughshares # Dhārā (or Prithvi), the gift of the earth # Hiraṇyāśva-ratha (Hiranyashva-ratha), the gift of the golden horse chariot # Hema-hasti-ratha, the gift of the golden elephant chariot # Viṣṇu-cakra (Vishnu-chakra), the gift of the universal wheel # Kalpa-latā, the gift of the wish-granting vines # Sapta-sāgara, the gift of the seven seas # Ratna-dhenu, the gift of the jewel-cow # Mahā-bhūta-ghaṭa, the gift of the pot of elements The two most-frequently mentioned great gifts in the historical records are tula-purusha and hiranya-garbha. The ''Matysa Purana'' mentions tula-purusha as the first and the best among the sixteen great gifts.

References

Bibliography

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