History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c43.148

v3.c43.148

The smṛtis, purāṇas and digests speak of the gifts of many animals such as of elephants, horses, buffaloes, of articles like clothes, deer-skins, umbrellas, shoes, which are all passed over here. But two or three of these many dānas deserve notice. Aparārka (pp. 375–376) extracts a long passage from the Bhaviṣyottara about constructing in the month of Caitra a *maṇḍapa* for the distribution of water to travellers in the midst of a city or in a waterless desert or near a temple. A brāhmaṇa was to be engaged for wages to distribute water and this was to be continued for four months or at least three fortnights.