Mahā Dāna Vidhi

Mahā Dāna Vidhi, “the rite of the great gifts”

The Mahā-dānas are the great gifts. The Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa (Chapters 175–205) gives the fullest teaching on them in the Purāṇic tradition. These gifts carry the highest merit, both for this life and the next. Six are chief: Tulāpurusha (gold equal to the weight of the giver), Hiraṇyagarbha (a golden vessel in the form of the cosmic womb), Brahmāṇḍa (a golden cosmic egg), Kalpavṛksha (a golden wish-fulfilling tree), Kālapurusha (a golden figure of the Person of Time) and Mahāparvata (gifts shaped like mountains, made of ten substances). The Daśadānas, ten more great gifts, and many smaller dānas are taught along with them.

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 213) also teaches great gifts of gold, told by Agni Deva to Vasishṭha Maharshi: the Pṛthvī-dāna, a golden earth made in three grades with the kūrma, the lotus and the varāha; the Kalpavṛksha of a thousand palas of gold; and the Kāmadhenu of five hundred palas of gold, given before Bhagavān Vishṇu. Their phala is Brahmaloka.

Who taught it and to whom

Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa tells the whole Mahā-dāna teaching to Yudhishṭhira. Inside it is an upākhyāna (an account) given by Pulastya Maharshi to King Priyavrata. Priyavrata had ruled for thirty thousand years. He shared his kingdom among his seven sons and went to the forest for tapas. Great ṛshis, Pulastya among them, came to see him. They asked which dānas and vratas lead to the best fruit. Pulastya gave the teaching that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa now passes on to Yudhishṭhira. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 175)

1. Tulāpurusha Dāna (Chapter 175)

The Tulāpurusha is the gift of gold equal to the giver’s own body weight. A scale (tulā) is built. The giver sits on one pan, and gold is put on the other until the two pans balance. This gold is then given to a worthy brāhmaṇa.

When it is given

It is best done on Kārtika Paurṇamī (the full-moon day of Kārtika), on Ayana-saṅkrānti, at the Vishuva yoga, or at an eclipse.

The rite

• A pure pavilion is built and the scale is set up with four upright posts.
• The beam on the gold side is inscribed with holy mantras.
• The giver bathes, wears white, and sits with full reverence.
• After the balancing, all the gold is given to a vidyāvān (learned) brāhmaṇa with the words: Tulāpurusha-dānam idam |
• Brāhmaṇas are fed and given the right dakshiṇā.

The phala

The giver lives in Brahmaloka for as many years as there are specks of dust in the gold he gave. His ancestors are freed from naraka. He is born again as a mahārāja (great king). (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 175)

2. Hiraṇyagarbha Dāna (Chapter 176)

A golden vessel that stands for the cosmic womb (hiraṇyagarbha) is made, filled with costly things, and given to a brāhmaṇa.

The vessel

It is cast in pure gold, twenty to a thousand palas in weight, in the shape of an egg or a round container. It is filled with golden sesame seeds, precious gems, fragrances and cloth. Four full kalaśas (water pots) are set around it. A golden mūrti of the deva within the vessel is optional.

When it is given

Ayana-saṅkrānti, Vishuva, or a solar eclipse. These are the most powerful times.

The rite

Havana (fire offering) is done by four Vedic brāhmaṇas in a properly built kuṇḍa (fire pit). The giver does pūjā to the Hiraṇyagarbha with a pañcāmṛta snāna (bath in five nectars) and the sarvopacāra pūjā (pūjā with every offering). Then he gives it, with dakshiṇā, to a worthy śrotriya brāhmaṇa.

The phala

All pāpa (sin) of body, mind and speech is destroyed. The giver gains fame, wealth, long life and sadgati (a good end). He lives in Brahmaloka for thirty-six Manvantaras. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 176)

3. Brahmāṇḍa Dāna (Chapter 177)

A golden model of the whole cosmic egg (brahmāṇḍa) is made, with a detailed painting of the worlds inside it, and given to a brāhmaṇa. It is called the gift of the whole visible cosmos in small.

The model

It is made in gold, twenty to a thousand palas. All fourteen worlds are shown: Jambudvīpa with Meru, the seven dvīpas, the seven pātālas below and the seven higher worlds above. Inside the model a skilled craftsman shows the Trimūrti on Meru, the deva-nāgara, daityas, gandharvas, yakshas, nāgas, rākshasas, rivers, mountains and the digdvīpas.

The rite

A sundara maṇḍapa (a flower pavilion) is built. The Brahmāṇḍa is set on a droṇa (a measure of 32 śer) of sesame. It is covered with two cloths and anointed with kuṅkuma. Pūjā is done with gandha (scent), dhūpa (incense) and dīpa (lamp). Four full kalaśas are set around it. Four Vedic brāhmaṇas do havana, with ten thousand āhutis (offerings) of the mahāvyāhṛtis, together with the Rudra-pāṭha. The giver then does pūjā and prays:

Brahmaṇḍodara vartīni yāni sattvāni kāni cit |
tāni sarvāṇi me tushṭiṃ prayacchantvatolāṃ sadā ||

The account of Sudyumna

A great king named Sudyumna ruled for three thousand years. He then went to the forest for tapas and reached Brahmaloka. But he could enjoy none of its pleasures, because he had never given dāna in his life. Bhagavān Brahmā told him to go back and do the Brahmāṇḍa dāna. He did so, came again to Brahmaloka, and could enjoy all its pleasures.

The phala

The giver gains puṇya (merit) equal to giving away the whole cosmos. He stays in Brahmaloka for thirty-six Manvantaras and is born again as a great king who enjoys every comfort. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 177)

4. Kalpavṛksha Dāna (Chapters 178–179)

A wish-fulfilling tree (kalpavṛksha) of gold or silver, with branches, leaves, flowers and fruit, is made and given to a brāhmaṇa in a full ceremony. Bhagavān Śiva taught it to Devī Pārvatī for couples who have no child.

The tree

It is built of gold or silver with full foliage. Its five branches carry the mūrtis of Bhagavān Brahmā, Bhagavān Vishṇu, Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Sūrya, and Rati with Manmatha. Around the tree stand:

• A Santānavṛksha in the east, on a mound of salt, with Gāyatrī.
• A Mandāra tree in the south, in ghee, with Śrīdevī.
• A Pārijāta tree in the west, on cumin, with Umādevī.
• A Haricandana tree in the north, on sesame, with Surabhi.

Eight kalaśas filled with sugarcane, flowers and fruit surround the whole.

The rite

A maṇḍapa of ten cubits is built. Vedic brāhmaṇas do havana. An utsava (festival) is kept through the whole night. In the morning the Kalpavṛksha is given to the ācārya brāhmaṇa with dakshiṇā, and the smaller trees that go with it are given to the ṛtvijas (priests).

The prayer

Namas te kalpavṛkshāya vitatārtha pradāya ca |
viśvambharāya devāya namas te viśvamūrtaye ||

The phala

The giver goes to Indraloka in a chariot of the sun, with apsarases attending him. Born again, he is a king of dharma. The woman who does this dāna gives birth to a great cakravartī (universal ruler). Those who see the rite also reach moksha.

The Kalpabatā dāna

The Kalpabatā dāna (the golden creeper) is done in the same way, but with this prayer:

Namo namaḥ pāpa vināśinībhyo brahmaṇḍalokeśvara pālanībhyaḥ |
āśāśatādhikya phalapradābhyo digbhvas tathā kalpalatā vadhūbhyaḥ ||

Ten Kalpabatās are given to ten brāhmaṇas. The giver becomes wealthy and spends the whole Manvantara in Indraloka. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 178–179)

5. Kālapurusha Dāna (Chapters 181–190)

A golden figure of Kālapurusha, the Person of Time, is made and given in a great ceremony. It is among the fullest of the Mahā-dānas, and the Daśadānas go with it.

The figure

It is cast in gold, twenty to a thousand palas in weight. Kālapurusha is shown with every limb perfectly formed, seated on a rich throne-platform, with the twelve rāśis, the nine grahas and all the nakshatras round him.

The rite

A grand pavilion is built. Eighteen kinds of grain, one droṇa of each, are laid out. Vedic brāhmaṇas from four śākhās (branches of the Veda) do havana. The giver bathes, dresses in white, and gives the figure with dakshiṇā.

The phala

The giver’s whole line of seven generations is set free. He lives in the highest lokas for one whole kalpa.

The Daśadānas

These ten gifts go with it and are also taught in this part:

1. Dhenu-dāna (a cow), in various forms: prākṛta, tila, jala, kapila, mahishī and others.
2. Bhūmi-dāna (land).
3. Svarṇa-dāna (gold).
4. Tilaśaila (a mountain of sesame).
5. Ghṛtaparvata (a mountain of ghee).
6. Lavaṇācala (a mountain of salt).
7. Dhānyaśaila (a mountain of grain).
8. Guḍaparvata (a mountain of jaggery).
9. Kapāsaśaila (a mountain of cotton).
10. Rajatācala (a mountain of silver).

Each is given at the proper auspicious times to worthy brāhmaṇas, with Vedic mantras. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 181–190)

6. Mahāparvata Dānas: the ten mountain gifts (Chapters 195–204)

Ten dānas shaped like mountains and made of different substances form the category called Daśaparvata or Daśaśaila.

Each mountain dāna is built in the shape laid down, honoured with havana, and given to brāhmaṇas with the right dakshiṇā and the proper mantras. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 195–204)

Per Agni Purāṇa

In the Agni Purāṇa, Agni Deva teaches Vasishṭha Maharshi the gifts of gold that stand for the earth, the wish-fulfilling tree and the wish-fulfilling cow. “Now I shall tell you of the Pṛthvī-dāna, the gift of the earth,” he says.

Pṛthvī-dāna: the gift of a golden earth

The earth made for the gift is of three kinds.

• Uttama Pṛthvī (the best). It shows the earth as one hundred crore yojanas wide, with the seven dvīpas and the oceans, up to Jambūdvīpa. It is made of five bhāras of gold. With half of that measure, a kūrma (tortoise) and a lotus are made.
• Madhyama Pṛthvī (the middle). It is made with half the gold of the uttama.
• Kanishṭha Pṛthvī (the least). It is made with a third of that. In a third part of the earth, the kūrma and the varāha (boar) are made.

Kalpavṛksha-dāna

A kalpavṛksha (wish-fulfilling tree) is made of a thousand palas of gold, with its root, trunk, leaves, fruits and flowers, and five branches. A learned brāhmaṇa has the yajamāna (the giver) make the saṅkalpa (the formal resolve), and has the tree given to five brāhmaṇas. The giver lives in bliss for a long time in Brahmaloka, together with the hosts of the pitṛs.

Kāmadhenu-dāna

A Kāmadhenu (the wish-fulfilling cow) is made of five hundred palas of gold and given before Bhagavān Vishṇu. All the devatās, Brahmā, Vishṇu, Śiva and the rest, dwell in the body of the cow. So by the gift of a cow it is as if every dāna were given. By it every desire is fulfilled and Brahmaloka is reached. One who gives a Kapilā (tawny) cow in the presence of Śrī Mahāvishṇu uplifts his whole family line.

Other gifts named with them

• One who gives an adorned maiden in marriage gains the phala of the Aśvamedha yāga.
• One who gives land fit for every crop gains everything.
• One who gives a village, a town or a hamlet becomes happy.
• One who performs the Vṛshotsarga (the release of a bull) on Kārttika pūrṇimā and like days uplifts his family line.

(Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 213)

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 175–205
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 175 (the teaching, Pulastya and Priyavrata, Tulāpurusha)
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 176 (Hiraṇyagarbha)
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 177 (Brahmāṇḍa and the account of Sudyumna)
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 178–179 (Kalpavṛksha and Kalpabatā)
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 181–190 (Kālapurusha and the Daśadānas)
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 195–204 (the ten mountain gifts)
• Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 213