sixteen great gifts

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.{{sfn|Florinda De Simini|2016|p=32}} 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.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}}

The section of the Matsya Purana that mentions the sixteen great gifts appears to have been composed during 550-650 CE.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|pp=145-146}} It states that several ancient kings performed the great gifts.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}} The Linga Purana 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), such as Ballala's Dana-sagara, and the Danakhanda section of Hemadri's Chaturvarga-chintamani (13th century).{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}}

The Chalukya king Pulakeshin I (c. 540-567) is known to have performed the hiranyagarbha ritual (although not mentioned as a Great Gift) to proclaim his sovereignty.{{sfn|Daud Ali|2000|p=146}} The earliest known epigraphically-attested donations called the "great gifts" were made by the 7th century Pandya king Jayantavarman (alias Cendan). According to his inscription, the king performed three of the great gifts: hiranya-garbha, go-sahasra, and tula-pursuha.{{sfn|Florinda De Simini|2016|p=32}} The Rashtrakuta king Dantidurga (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.{{sfn|Nicholas B. Dirks|1993|p=37}}

The inscriptions of the Gahadavala dynasty (11th-12th century) mention three of the great gifts: tulapurusha, gosahasra, and pancha-langala (or pancha-langalaka). The Chandela king Dhanga (r. c. 950-999 CE) and the Kalachuri king Yashahkarna (r. c. 1073-1123 CE) are known to have performed tulapurusha. The Sena king Lakshmana Sena (r. c. 1178-1206) performed the great gift of Hemashva-ratha, otherwise called Hiranyashva-ratha.{{sfn|V. B. Mishra|1973|p=70}}

In the Vijayanagara Empire of the 14th-16th centuries, the Great Gift ceremonies were used to proclaim the rulers' beneficence and independence.{{sfn|Nicholas B. Dirks|1993|pp=37-38}} For example, the Nallur inscription of king Harihara II of Vijayanagara Empire mentions that he performed the sixteen great gifts.{{sfn|Nicholas B. Dirks|1993|p=37}}

The sixteen great gifts, according to the Matsya Purana, are as follows: (names in IAST){{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=164}}{{sfn|Florinda De Simini|2016|p=32}}

1. Tulā-puruṣa (Tula-purusha), the gift of the man on the scales (weighing of a person and donation of equivalent weight in gold)
2. Hiraṇya-garbha, the gift of the golden embryo (pot)
3. Brahmāṇḍa, the gift of the Brahma-egg
4. Kalpa-pādapa, the gift of the wish-granting tree
5. Go-sahasra, the gift of a thousand cows
6. Hiraṇya-kāmadhenu, the gift of the wish-granting cow
7. Hiraṇyāśva (Hiranyashva), the gift of the golden horse
8. Pañca-lāṅgala (Pancha-langala), the gift of the five ploughshares
9. Dhārā (or Prithvi), the gift of the earth
10. Hiraṇyāśva-ratha (Hiranyashva-ratha), the gift of the golden horse chariot
11. Hema-hasti-ratha, the gift of the golden elephant chariot
12. Viṣṇu-cakra (Vishnu-chakra), the gift of the universal wheel
13. Kalpa-latā, the gift of the wish-granting vines
14. Sapta-sāgara, the gift of the seven seas
15. Ratna-dhenu, the gift of the jewel-cow
16. 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.{{sfn|Nicholas B. Dirks|1993|p=37}} The Matysa Purana mentions tula-purusha as the first and the best among the sixteen great gifts.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=145}}

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• {{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=D. C. Sircar |author-link=Dineshchandra Sircar |title=Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mh1y1eMgGBMC&pg=PA164 |year=1971 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2790-5 }}
• {{cite book|author=Daud Ali |chapter=Royal Eulogy as World History: Rethinking Copper-Plate Inscriptions in Cola India |title=Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mPARDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA186 |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-512430-9 }}
• {{cite book |author=Florinda De Simini |chapter=Manuscripts, Ritual, and the State in Indian Sources |title=Of Gods and Books: Ritual and Knowledge Transmission in the Manuscript Cultures of Premodern India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgmyDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |year=2016 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-047881-5 }}
• {{cite book |author=Nicholas B. Dirks |title=The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cegr6zH9PFEC&pg=PA37 |year=1993 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-08187-X }}
• {{cite book |author=V. B. Mishra |title=Religious Beliefs and Practices of North India During the Early Mediaeval Period |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