Dāna

Dāna · dāna, “giving, a gift”

Kuśa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kuśa. Rajas has other meanings too: see all meanings of Rajas. Caitra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Caitra. Saṅkalpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Saṅkalpa. Vaiśākha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vaiśākha. Vimāna has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vimāna. Dakshiṇā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dakshiṇā. Vaishṇava has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vaishṇava.

Grammar: neuter noun, from the root dā (to give): “giving, a gift”. Annadāna is the gift of food, godāna the gift of a cow, bhūdāna the gift of land, pratigraha the receiving of a gift.

Meaning: giving: the gift made with a composed mind to a worthy receiver, a brāhmaṇa, a guest or one in need. It is one of the duties by which a man keeps dharma and gains a good gati (destination) here and hereafter.

In the scriptures: the Brahma Purāṇa teaches dāna in the dialogues of Vyāsa with the munis and of Bhagavān Śiva with Devī Umā, and in the Gautamī Māhātmya, where Brahmā tells Nārada the dāna that bears fruit at each tīrtha of the Gautamī.

Dāna and the good gati. The munis ask Vyāsa about the gatis that come from dharma. Vyāsa tells them that one who did adharma by mistake and then repents is freed of it, and that one who, with a composed mind, gives various dānas to a vipra reaches a good gati. “Hear the dānas a man should give so that, though he did pāpa, he does not suffer its fruit.” Annadāna is greater than all dānas. Anna (food) is the prāṇa of men; from anna the jīva is born, and the worlds are established in anna; the devas, ṛshis, pitṛs and men all praise it, and by annadāna one attains svarga. One whose food ten brāhmaṇas eat even once, given with a full heart, does not take births as animals and birds, and one who feeds ten thousand brāhmaṇas is released from the adharma he did. Each varṇa gives in its own way: the student gives the food of his bhikshā to a vipra who knows the Veda; the kshatriya who rules with justice gives food won by his royal power; the vaiśya gives a pure sixth part of what his farming earns; and the śūdra who gives food to dvijas is freed from pāpa. Annadāna must be given without departing from nyāya (what is just). The gṛhastha who daily feeds a hundred knowers of the Veda, of dharma and of itihāsa and purāṇa does not fall into naraka and is born again handsome, famous and wealthy. “This,” Vyāsa says, “is the root of all dharmas and all dānas” (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 218).

Śiva’s teaching to Umā. Bhagavān Śiva tells Devī Pārvatī that natural dvija-hood, which comes by birth, must be guarded by accepting gifts from worthy givers (sat-pratigraha), by giving dāna and by doing the enjoined karmas; and that a kshatriya on the way to brāhmaṇa-hood performs yajñas with good dakshiṇā, gives dāna to those who perform yajñas, and always gives with a wet hand, the water of the gift never drying (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 223). Asked what dānas lead a man to svarga, Śiva answers: one who, honouring brāhmaṇas, gives with a generous mind to the wretched, the suffering and the poor food and drink and clothing; who builds shelters for travellers, halls and tanks; and who always gives seats, beds, vehicles, houses, gems, wealth, fields and crops, goes to the deva-loka, enjoys the Nandana garden with the apsarās, and is born again in a house rich in wealth and grain. But misers and nāstikas, who though they have do not give, and who will not even speak a word to the blind, the poor, beggars and guests, go to naraka, and are born again hungry, cast out and poor (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 225).

Dāna born of the Devī. In the stotra Indra sings to Bhagavān Śiva and the Devī at the Gautamī, when the whole universe was overrun by pāpa, poverty, greed and adversity, Śiva asked the Devī to protect the three worlds. The Devī became one with half of Śiva’s body, and drops of sweat fell from her fingertips; from those drops came first Dharma, then Lakshmī, then dāna, good rain, animals, lakes, grains, flowers, fruits and all that brings good fortune (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 59).

Giving with remembrance of Vishṇu. At Vishṇutīrtha on the Gautamī, Bhagavān Vishṇu, holding the śaṅkha, cakra and gadā and seated on Garuḍa, came every day to the poor ṛshi Maudgalya. Asked why want still remained in his house, Vishṇu told him: “Nothing has been given by you to brāhmaṇas or to me; only what is given goes over to the supreme ātmā. Nowhere can men attain worldly enjoyments without giving dāna.” He taught the difference: “Whatever is given to a brāhmaṇa or to other suppliants after remembering me returns as everlasting benefit; if anything is given without meditating on me, it yields only an equal benefit, already used up.” Maudgalya had nothing to give but an ear of corn that Garuḍa brought; he offered its grains to Bhagavān Vishṇu, and his family was blessed with every wealth up to the seventh generation. “Oh the power of dāna! Oh the remembrance of Vishṇu! Oh the power of Gaṅgā!” Maudgalya said (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 66).

Fruit according to bhāva. Viśvāmitra teaches Viśvarūpa that a being attains fruit according to the bhāva (inner disposition) with which it acts; tapas, vratas, dāna, japa, yajñas and other holy rites yield fruit according to the bhāva of the performer (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103).

Given with devotion. Nārada asks Brahmā which is best among tīrthas, dānas, yajñas, tapas, service to the devas and the practice of mantras. Brahmā answers with the account of Gautama, to whom Bhagavān Śiva granted: “A devotee may give anything anywhere, but it should be given with great devotion. Whatever a man does on the Godāvarī with due observance of vratas bears ample fruit.” By snāna and dāna done devotedly in the Gautamī a man gains more merit than one who, in Śiva’s presence at an eclipse, keeps all the vows and gives adorned cows with their calves to Vishṇu or to a king at a famous confluence (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 105).

Dāna at the Gautamī tīrthas. King Dhanvantari, son of Āyus, performed aśvamedha and other yajñas and gave many dānas before he came to the highest vairāgya (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52). The fruit of dāna at the tīrthas, as Brahmā tells it to Nārada:

  • Pāpanāśana, where the devas were freed of their pāpas: a bath and dāna destroy even the pāpa of brahmahatyā. At Pippaleśvara, pāpas are removed by bathing, by dāna and by a visit to the Sūrya established there (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 40).
  • Indratīrtha and Bārhaspatya: a bath, dāna and any act of puṇya bear everlasting fruit and are very dear to the pitṛs (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52).
  • Abjaka, on the southern bank: whatever is given to suppliants here, even as little as a sesame seed, gives everlasting fruit, grants all desires and gives moksha (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 59).
  • Vāṇīsaṅgama, where Śiva is Vāgīśvara: snāna and dāna dispel even brahmahatyā; one who does dāna, homa or upavāsa at the confluence is not born again (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 65).
  • Vishṇutīrtha, also called Maudgalya and Vaishṇava: snāna and dāna give bhukti and mukti (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 66).
  • Lakshmītīrtha: by snāna and dāna one becomes wealthy and full of puṇya (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67).
  • Bhānutīrtha: snāna and dāna give the fruit of all yajñas (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 68).
  • Yayātatīrtha and its hundred and eight tīrthas: snāna, dāna and hearing the account suppress all pāpas and give bhukti and mukti (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 76).
  • Koṭitīrtha: every snāna and dāna gives a crore times the fruit; a single cow given to an excellent brāhmaṇa gives the fruit of a crore cows, and land given with a faithful mind has its fruit increased a crore times (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 78).
  • Narasiṃhatīrtha: a bath and dāna destroy all graha-doshas, the troubles of the grahas (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 79).
  • Bhīmeśvara: snāna and dāna undoubtedly bestow mukti (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103).
  • Adri-tīrtha, where Himālaya installed a great liṅga: a bath and dāna give auspicious results that fulfil the desires of the heart (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 104).

Related terms: Annadāna · Godāna · Bhūdāna · Dakshiṇā · Pratigraha · Tīrtha

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 218, 223, 225; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 40, 52, 59, 65–68, 76, 78–79, 103–105