History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c43.80

v3.c43.80

The gift of land has been eulogized as the most meritorious of all gifts from ancient times. Vas. Dh. S. 29. 16 quotes a verse which is found also in Bṛhaspati 7, Viṣṇudharmottara and Matsyapurāṇa (quoted by Aparārka pp. 369, 370), the Mahābhārata (Anuśāsana 62. 19) and which says ‘whatever²⁰²¹ sin a man may commit when in straitened circumstances, he is purified therefrom by making a gift of only as much land as is equal to gocarma’. Aparārka (pp. 368, 370) quotes many verses from the Viṣṇudharmottara, the Ādityapurāṇa, the Matsyapurāṇa on the high rewards reaped by the gift of land. The Vanaparva²⁰²² (93. 78-79) declares ‘whatever sins a king is guilty of in bringing the earth under his control, all those he gets rid of by performing sacrifices with munificent gifts; by bestowing on brāhmaṇas lands and cows in thousands, the king becomes free from all sins as the moon is freed from darkness’ (Rāhu). Anuśāsana 59. 5 voices the popular sentiment that ‘gifts of gold, cows and land save even the wicked’.