History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c20.s2.t2.1

c20.s2.t2.1

The Brahmans had gained complete ascendancy, and it was considered meritorious by the other castes—Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas and Śūdras—to make them gifts. Sometimes, however, the Gāhaḍavāla monarchs gave lands to a hereditary Rāuta or a Kṣatriya, as for example, Jayacandra made six grants in favour of the Rāuta Rājyadharavarman, who is expressly called a Kṣatriya.² This shows that non-Brahmans were not then altogether excluded from the bounty of donors. Further, there are some instances of Buddhists being objects of royal generosity. The Sahet-Maheṭh inscription records that Govindacandra, having been gratified by the Saugata Parivrājaka, the Mahāpaṇḍita Śākyarakṣita (a resident of the Utkala country) and his disciple the Saugata Parivrājaka, the Mahāpaṇḍita Vāgīśvararakṣita (a resident of the Coḍa country), bestowed the villages of Vihāra, Paṭṭanā, Upalaüṇḍa, Vavvahali, Meyī-sambaddha-Ghosāḍī, Pothivāra-sambaddha Payāsi upon “the most respectable community of Buddhist friars (Śākyabhikṣu), of which Buddharakṣita was the chief, residing in the holy convent of Jetavana.”³ Incidentally the above inscription proves that Buddhism was still lingering on, and that the Gāhaḍavāla kings were tolerant enough to extend their patronage to its votaries. This view is also supported by the Bodhgayā inscription, which describes Jayacandra as a disciple of the Buddhist saint Śrīmitra, and the Sarnath inscription of Kumāradevī, the Buddhist queen of Govindacandra, who repaired or restored the Dharmacakra Jina, originally set up by Dharmāśoka and placed it in a new *vihāra* at Sarnath. It was customary for donors to make grants by a libation of water after bathing in a sacred river such as the Ganges,¹ the Jumna,² confluences of rivers such as the Sarayū and the Ghargarā,³ the Triveṇī at Allahabad,⁴ or that of the Varuṇā and the Ganges at Benares.⁵ The usual occasions for such gifts were the lunar⁶ or solar eclipse,⁷ the annual Śrāddha in honour of one's father,⁸ the royal birthday (*Jātakarma*),⁹ the name-giving (*Nāmaka-raṇa*),¹⁰ or the installation ceremonies,¹¹ the Uttarāyaṇa¹² and the Dakṣiṇāyana Saṃkrāntis,¹³ the Akṣayatritīyā festival¹⁴ and so on. The gifts were as a rule absolute, and were to hold good "as long as the sun and moon endure." Resumption was expressly forbidden with dire imprecations, it being laid down that whoever took back land once given, or obstructed its enjoyment, "cannot be purified by a hundred horse-sacrifices, but lives in hell until the destruction of all beings."