Gosahasra

{{Short description|Ritual donation described in the ancient texts of India}}

Gosahasra or go-sahasra-dana (literally "the gift of a thousand cows") is a ritual donation described in the ancient texts of India. It is one of the sixteen great gifts (shodasha-mahadana), and is frequently mentioned in the ancient inscriptions.

Scriptural authority

The Atharvaveda-parishishta, composed in the 1st millennium BCE, mentions gosahasra, along with hiranyagarbha and tulapurusha donations.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}} These three donations are included among the sixteen great gifts in the later text Matsya Purana; the relevant section of the text appears to have been composed during 550-650 CE.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|pp=145-146}} The Matsya Purana states that several ancient kings performed the great gifts,{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}} and these three donations are most prominent among the great gifts recorded in historical inscriptions.{{sfn|Marko Geslani|2018|p=206}}

The Linga Purana also mentions the sixteen great gifts; 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 further detailed in the later digests devoted to the topic of charity (dāna), such as Ballala's Dana-sagara, and the Danakhanda section of Hemadri's Chaturvarga-chintamani (13th century).{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}}

Historical performers

  • The inscriptions of the Shalankayana and Vishnukundin kings (c. 4th-6th centuries) mention gosahasra and hiranyagarbha performances.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=152}}
  • Attivarman (c. 4th century) of Ananda dynasty of Guntur region performed gosahsra and hiranyagarbha.{{sfn|Marko Geslani|2018|p=192}} Damodaravarman of this dynasty also made these two donations.{{sfn|Suvira Jaiswal|1981|p=145}}
  • The Tugu inscription of Purnavarman (c. 5th century), a ruler of Tarumanagara in present-day Indonesia, records a gift of a thousand cows to brahmanas.{{sfn|J. Noorduyn|H. Verstappen|1972|p=298}}
  • The Siripuram inscription of the Vasishtha king Anantavarman (c. 5th century) records gosahasra and other donations by his grandfather Gunavarman.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|1994|p=85}}
  • Jayantavarman alias Cendan (c. 7th century) of Pandya dynasty, according to one of his inscriptions, "castigated the Kali age" by performing gosahsra along with hiranyagarbha and tulapursuha.{{sfn|Florinda De Simini|2016|p=32}}
  • An inscription of the Pandya king Varaguna I (r. c. 768-811) states that his father and grandfather performed hiranyagarbha, tulabhara and gosahasra many times.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=173}}
  • The Pandya king Nedumaran, according to his Madurai inscription, performed many great gifts including those of gosahasra, tulabhara (tulapurusha), and hiranyagarbha.{{sfn|R. Nagaswamy|1981|p=78}}
  • Chandradeva (c. 1099 CE) of Gahadavala dynasty performed gosahasra and tulapurusha donations in front of an idol of Adikeshava, and then granted some villages, according to his Chandravati inscription{{sfn|V. B. Mishra|1973|p=70}}
  • Anavema Reddi (14th century) of Reddi dynasty made the gosahasra donation.{{sfn|Kambhampati Satyanarayana|1983|p=135}}
  • Krishnadevaraya (r. 1509-1529) of the Vijayanagara Empire performed the sixteen great gifts according to the 1510 Rameswaram inscription and the 1513 Srikalahasti inscription.{{sfn|M. Krishna Kumari|1998|p=30}} His 1521 Chikalparvi inscription records the performance of gosahasra along with that of other great gifts of ratnadhenu, hiranashva, and tulapurusha.{{sfn|New Indian Express|2017}}
  • Venkata I (r. c. 1542) and Tirumala Deva Raya (r. c. 1565-1572) of Vijayanagara also performed all the great gifts including the gosahasra.{{sfn|M. Krishna Kumari|1998|p=30}}
  • Dodda Kempadevaraja (r. c. 1659-1673) of Mysore of performed the sixteen great gifts, including gosahsra.{{sfn|Krishnaji Chitnis|2003|p=80}}

References

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= Bibliography =

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |author=Annette Schmiedchen |author-link=Annette Schmiedchen |chapter=The Ceremony of Tulāpuruṣa: The Purāṇic Concept and the Epigraphical Evidence |editor1=Adalbert J. Gail |editor2=Gerd J. R. Mevissen |editor3=Richard Salomon |title=Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwkOdPtZmVcC&pg=PA145 |year=2006 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2944-2 }}
  • {{cite book |author=Florinda De Simini |title=Of Gods and Books: Ritual and Knowledge Transmission in the Manuscript Cultures of Premodern India |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.doa.109 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dli.doa.109/page/n44 32] |year=2016 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-047881-5 }}
  • {{cite journal |author1=J. Noorduyn |author2=H. Verstappen |title=Purnavarmans river-works near Tugu |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |volume=128 |issue=2/3 |year=1972 |pages=298–307 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90002752 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |jstor=27861261 |doi-access=free }}
  • {{cite book |author=Kambhampati Satyanarayana |title=A study of the history and culture of the Andhras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zb21AAAAIAAJ |year=1983 |publisher=People's Publishing House }}
  • {{cite book |author=Krishnaji Chitnis |title=Medieval Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMcIu7kL42MC&pg=PA80 |year=2003 |publisher=Atlantic |isbn=978-81-7156-062-2 }}
  • {{cite book |author=M. Krishna Kumari |title=Facets of Andhra culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCbuAAAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Gyan Sagar |isbn=978-81-86987-04-9 }}
  • {{cite book |author=Marko Geslani |title=Rites of the God-King: Santi and Ritual Change in Early Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT192 |year=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-086290-9 |pages=192–}}
  • {{cite news |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2017/nov/21/stone-inscriptions-of-vijayanagara-empire-era-discovered-in-raichur-1706593.html |title=Stone inscriptions of Vijayanagara empire era discovered in Raichur |newspaper=The New Indian Express |date=21 November 2017 |ref={{harvid|New Indian Express|2017}} }}
  • {{cite book |author=R. Nagaswamy |title=Tamil Coins: A Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjsfAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Institute of Epigraphy, Tamilnadu State Department of Archaeology }}
  • {{cite book |author=Suvira Jaiswal |title=The Origin and Development of Vaiṣṇavism: Vaiṣṇavism from 200 BC to AD 500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sn_XAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal }}
  • {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |title=Kings, Brāhmaṇas, and temples in Orissa: an epigraphic study AD 300-1147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lluAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0621-2 }}
  • {{cite book |author=V. B. Mishra |title=Religious Beliefs and Practices of North India During the Early Mediaeval Period |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LB1qhsw10IwC&pg=PA70 |year=1973 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-03610-5 }}

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Category:Rituals in Hindu worship

Category:Donation

Category:Hinduism and cattle