[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v3.c43.43 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c43.43 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c43.43 - **Language:** English ### [v3.c43.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v3.c43.43) Among \*deya\* things, some are the best, some middling, some inferior. Food,²⁰⁰¹ curds, honey, protection, cow, land, gold, horse and elephant — gifts of these nine are said to be the best; learning, house for shelter, domestic paraphernalia (like cots), medicine — these four are said to be middling; shoes, swings, carts, umbrellas, vessels, seats, lamps, wood, fruits and whatever is old and worn out and all other unspecified objects are inferior. Yāj. (I. 210-211) appears to have this difference in view when he says that a man, making a gift of land (capable of yielding a crop or fruits), lamp, wood, garment, water (water-reservoir), sesame, ghee, house for travellers, money for settling a person as a married man (or bringing about his marriage by finding a girl for him), gold, draught ox, is honoured in the heavenly world, while one who makes a gift of a house, corn (of various kinds), protection from danger, shoes, umbrella, flowers, unguents, conveyance (chariot &c.), tree, a desired thing, a cot secures endless happiness. Gifts of three things are said to be superior to the gift of anything else and are styled²⁰⁰² \*atidāna\*, viz. of cows, land and Sarasvatī (\*vidyā\*) according to Vas. Dh. S. 29. 19 and Bṛhaspati 18. Vas. Dh. S. 29. 19, Manu 4. 233, Atri, 340, Yāj. I. 212 say that the gift of \*vidyā\* is the best of all gifts such as those of water, food, cows, land, garments, sesame, gold and clarified butter. On the other hand Anuśāsana-parva (62. 2) and the Viṣṇudharmottara (quoted by Aparārka p. 369) say that the gift of land surpasses all other gifts. The Viṣṇu Dh. S. 92. 1 says that the gift of protection from danger (abhayadāna) is the highest. The gifts of certain objects were called \*mahādānas\*. These and a few other dānas will be dealt with in some detail later on. - [Previous: v3.c43.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v3.c43.42) - [Next: v3.c43.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v3.c43.44) - [Up: v3.c43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v3.c43) ## Cites (8) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*vulgate.13.62.2) — Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.4.233) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Yājñavalkyasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.yajnavalkya.1.210) — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit - [Vaiṣṇava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.visnu) — Viṣṇu, Sanskrit - [Bṛhaspatismṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.uddhrta.brhaspati) — Bṛhaspati, Sanskrit - [Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.vasistha) — Vasiṣṭha, Sanskrit - [Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.upa.vaisnava.visnudharmottara) — Sanskrit - [Atrismṛti (Atrisaṃhitā)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.atri-works.atri) — Atri, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v3.c43.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v3.c43.43) · Pramāṇa