History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c43.14

v3.c43.14

The Śat. Br. (II. 2. 10. 6) says 'there are two kinds of devas, the gods (heavenly) and the human gods viz. brāhmaṇas who have studied the Veda and mastered it; sacrifice is divided between these two, i. e. oblations go to the gods and the fee to the learned brāhmaṇas who are the human gods. These two kinds of gods when gratified place him (the sacrificer) in nectar (or in the celestial world).'¹⁹⁸² The Tai. S. VI. 1. 6. 3 states that 'it is indeed *tapas* when¹⁹⁸³ a man makes a gift of what he owns.' We saw above (note 11) how the Bṛ. Up. V. 2. 3 inculcates the three virtues of self-restraint, charity (*dāna*) and compassion. In the Ait. Br. 39. 6¹⁹⁸⁴ it is stated that the king when anointed should make gifts of gold, fields and cattle. But it appears from the story of Viśvakarman Bhauvana narrated in the Ait. Br. (39. 7) and also in the Śat. Br. (XIII. 7. 1. 13-15) that when he desired to make a gift of the earth to his priest Kaśyapa as sacrificial fee the earth appeared and sang a verse 'no mortal must give me away as a gift; O Viśvakarman Bhauvana, you desired to give me away; I shall plunge into the midst of water, so that this your promise to Kaśyapa is fruitless.' It seems however that gifts of villages had come to be made very early. The Chān. Up. IV. 2. 4-5 narrates how Jānaśruti desirous of learning the saṁvarga lore from Raikva offered a thousand cows, a golden chain, a chariot to which mules were yoked, his own daughter (as a wife) and certain villages to Raikva, which came to be known as Raikvaparṇa villages in the country of Mahāvṛṣa, where Raikva lived.