Dāna Śāstra Teaching in the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa

The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa has two long teachings on dāna (giving). The first, in Chapter 2, is Nārada’s reflection on what he heard in Brahmā’s court about dāna and about three kinds of wealth. The second, in Chapter 4, is the day when Nārada, dressed as an old brāhmaṇa, explains a riddle on dāna that no scholar could solve for King Dharmavarmā of Saurāshṭra. Together they give a full list of the kinds of dāna.

The frame: Nārada and Arjuna at the Saṃgama

Nārada tells the whole Kaumārika Khaṇḍa to Arjuna. Sūta then repeats it to the ṛshis at Naimisha. In Chapter 2, Arjuna has met Nārada at the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama after twelve years of tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage). The account then moves to a meeting in Brahmā’s court, where the teaching on dāna was first given. Nārada tells what he heard there and what it made him think.

The teaching in Brahmā’s court

In Brahmā’s court, the divine vārtikulas (reporters who travel the universe every day) had returned and were telling what they had seen. One of them, Suśravas, told of Kātyāyana Muni. Kātyāyana had done tapas (austerity) on one leg (ekāṅgushṭha) for a hundred years. He wanted to know which of many paths was truly the highest: satya, tapas, śauca, sāṃkhya, yoga, kshamā, ārjava, mauna, yathārthajñāna, vairāgya, agnikārya or ātmajñāna. A divine voice told him to go to Sārasvata Muni, the son of Devī Sarasvatī, on the bank of the Pārvatī river.

Sārasvata gave the essence of what Devī Sarasvatī teaches. This whole world has birth and death as its nature, like shadows. It lasts only as long as the blink of an eye. Wealth, life, youth and pleasures are as unstable as the moon’s reflection in water. Knowing this, a person should take refuge in Sthāṇu-dāna, giving to Bhagavān Śiva. One who gives does not take on pāpa (sin). One who is a devotee of Sthāṇu (Bhagavān Śiva) is not born again and does not meet death. So the śruti declares.

The core of the teaching:

Dāna (giving) and bhakti to Bhagavān Śiva are the two pillars of moksha.
A human birth in Bhārata is the best vehicle. It is gained through great puṇya (merit). To waste it by not striving for moksha is to betray oneself.
All the purpose of human life comes to two things: dāna to those who deserve it, and devotion to Bhagavān Śiva.

Great givers named in the teaching:

Śibi of the Auśīnara line gave his own flesh for a brāhmaṇa who had taken the form of a bird. He went to svarga.
Pravardhanā, king of Kāśī, gave both his eyes to a brāhmaṇa. He won lasting fame in both worlds.
Videha Rāja gave his āśrama. Paraśurāma gave the whole earth. Gaya gave whole cities to brāhmaṇas.
Brahma-datta, king of Pāñcāla, gave without limit to brāhmaṇas and reached svarga.
Rājarshi Sahasrajit gave up his own life-breath (prāṇa) for brāhmaṇas and reached the highest worlds.

Those who give to Bhagavān Śiva (Sthāṇu-dāna) with a calm mind (śānta-citta) and controlled senses (jitendriya) live for ever in Rudrāloka. Brahmā confirmed it: “Dāna is the armor (kavaca) of yajñas. All living beings in the world take refuge in the giver (dātā).”

Nārada’s reflection: three kinds of wealth

After the court, Nārada sat on a rock on Meru and thought: Brahmā has confirmed these truths. If a person does not practise even one of them, what use is his life? I must give dāna. But how? All I own is a loincloth and a staff. I have no wealth.

He then remembered a teaching on the three kinds of wealth (trivittha-dravya).

Śukla-dravya (white or pure wealth) comes from knowledge of the Veda, from a student (śishya), or from a bride-gift (kanyā). It is the purest.
Citra-dravya (mixed wealth) comes from trade, farming, service or begging. It is middle.
Kṛshṇa-dravya (dark wealth) comes from violence or recklessness (sāhasa), gambling, theft or tricks. It is the lowest.

Only śukla-dravya should be given as dāna, with śraddhā (faith), in the right place (deśa), to the right receiver (pātra). The giver then reaches the state of a deva. If citra-dravya is given, the giver stays at the human level. If dark wealth is given, the giver is born as an animal.

Nārada then decided to go to King Dharmavarmā of Saurāshṭra and solve his riddle on dāna.

The riddle of Dharmavarmā

King Dharmavarmā of Saurāshṭra had done tapas for many years, with a sincere wish to understand the truth of dāna (dāna-tattva). An ākāśavāṇī (voice from the sky) gave him a single śloka:

Two hetus (causes), six adhishṭhānas (foundations), six aṅgas (parts), two phalas (fruits), four prakāras (types), three vidhis (forms), three nāśas (causes of loss) — this is dāna.

Nothing more was said. The king could not work out what the śloka meant. He announced a great reward for any scholar who could explain it fully: seven hundred crore cows, gold equal to their weight, and seven villages. Hundreds of brāhmaṇas came, and all of them failed.

Nārada explains the śloka

Nārada came before Dharmavarmā as an old brāhmaṇa and explained the śloka point by point.

The two hetus (causes of dāna)

1. Śraddhā (faith). Any dāna, small or large, brings abhyudaya (growth and wellbeing) only when it is given with śraddhā. Without śraddhā, even giving all one’s wealth or one’s own life bears no fruit. It shows that the giver lacks śraddhā. Even ṛshis who had nothing reached svarga through dāna given with śraddhā. Śraddhā is of three kinds, by the guṇas of the giver:

Sāttvika śraddhā: one does pūjā to the devatās.
Rājasika śraddhā: one does pūjā to yakshas and rākshasas.
Tāmasika śraddhā: one does pūjā to bhūtas, pretas and piśācas.

2. Śakti (capacity). Even with śraddhā, one must give within one’s means. Wealth kept beyond the needs of family, food and clothing is like honey-flavoured poison. If it is given away recklessly, beyond one’s śakti, it is adharma and not dāna. A person who neglects those who depend on him in order to give to outsiders causes suffering in this world and the next.

Nine things must never be given as dāna, even in a crisis:

What belongs jointly to others and oneself
What was received as a bequest
What belongs to another and is kept in trust
A pledge or deposit
One’s wife
A vision that was promised
Food for a guest (anvāhita)
Hidden treasure
The whole inheritance, when there are descendants

The six adhishṭhānas (foundations of dāna)

Dharma-dāna: giving only from a sense of righteousness (dharma-buddhi), without wanting any fruit, and regularly, to the worthy. This is the highest.
Artha-dāna: giving out of greed, drawing wealth out of a rich man’s wish for status. It comes from lust for gain.
Kāma-dāna: giving to an unworthy person from affection or a wish for a future gain.
Krīḍā-dāna (also read as hrī-dāna, from shame): promising a gift in public in an assembly and then being bound by shame to fulfil it, or giving back what one received.
Harsha-dāna: giving with joy when one sees a loved person or hears happy news.
Bhaya-dāna: giving from fear of harm or danger, or as repayment for a past wrong.

The six aṅgas (parts of dāna)

The giver (dātā). One who is healthy, follows dharma, wishes to give, is free of addiction, is pure and earns a pure living. A crooked, careless, restless, angry or fearful person, a liar, or a habitually lazy person is a lower giver (tāmasa-dātā).
The receiver (pratigrāhīta). A brāhmaṇa who is pure in mind (manas), speech (vākya) and body (kāya), who has thin means, who is kind, whose body is whole with no missing limb, and who has no defect of birth (yoni-dosha).
Purity of the act (śuddhi). Meeting the receiver with pleasure and a welcoming face, honouring him, and being free of envy.
What is given (deyam). Something that harms no one, is gained without sorrow and is earned by one’s own effort. Even if it is little, it is fit for dāna.
Joined with dharma (dharma-sahitam). Given for the sake of dharma. Even if small, when it goes with dharma it is counted in full. Without dharma, even a great gift is fruitless.
Place and time (deśa-kāla). The place and time where rare (durlabha) things are given in a way that follows dharma are the best place and time.

The two phalas (fruits)

Pāra-phala (fruit in the next world): when dāna is given to a superior (uttama) person, the puṇya comes back to the giver in the next world.
Iha-phala (fruit in this world): when dāna is given to an unworthy (apātra) person, the puṇya is enjoyed only in this life.

The four prakāras (types)

Dhruva-dāna: lasting gifts. Wells, gardens, tanks, forests, maṭhas, water-springs, houses, and land given to brāhmaṇas. They keep bringing puṇya for as long as the gift lasts. If a decaying gift is restored, the puṇya is twice as much.
Trika-dāna (tri-kāla or tri-sandhyā dāna): giving every day, the daily practice of giving.
Kāmya-dāna: giving with a purpose, for children, victory, wellbeing, for women, or for the sake of children, according to one’s wish.
Naimittika-dāna: giving on special occasions (nimitta). It has three kinds: kālāpekshā (tied to a time or festival), kriyāpekshā (tied to a ritual occasion) and guṇāpekshā (tied to the quality of the receiver).

The three vidhis (grades)

Of the full list of kinds of giving, the first eight are uttama (best), the next four are madhyama (middle), and the rest are adhama (lowest).

Best gifts: houses, prāsādas (palaces), vidyā (knowledge), bhūmi (land), cows, wells, life (prāṇa-dāna) and gold.
Middle gifts: food, gardens, clothing, and horses and other vehicles.
Lowest gifts: footwear, umbrellas, vessels, curds, honey, seats, lamps, wood and stones.

The three nāśas (causes of loss of dāna’s fruit)

Asura-dāna: regretting after giving, or lamenting afterwards. The puṇya is destroyed. This is the dāna of the asuras.
Rākshasa-dāna: giving without śraddhā. It is also worthless and destroyed.
Paiśāca-dāna: giving while feeling burdened, or suffering after giving. The fruit is destroyed. This is the dāna of the piśācas.

Dharmavarmā’s thanks and the land grant

Dharmavarmā was full of gratitude. He said: “Today my birth is fulfilled and my tapas has borne fruit. Today I am in your debt. Learning without practice is like a wife who never speaks kindly, and is wasted. It is like digging a well and finding only salt water, where the effort was in vain. You have made my birth worthwhile.”

Nārada told the king who he was. He did not ask for the promised cows and gold. He asked for a piece of land (bhūmi), seven gavyūtis near the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama, so that the brāhmaṇas of Kalāpagrāma could settle there. Dharmavarmā gave it at once, and promised to keep the grant and protect it.

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 2 and 4