History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.121

v7.c91.121

The Chāndogya states¹⁵²⁸ 'But they who, living in a village, practise (a life of) sacrifices, works of public utility and alms-giving reach toward smoke &c.'. Similarly, the Praśna-upaniṣad asserts 'those, who practise the (mode of) sacrifices and works of public utility as activities to be engaged in, reach only the world of the Moon, and it is these that again return to this world'. The Muṇḍaka says 'deluded people regarding sacrifices and works of public utility as the best do not know (recognize) any other higher good; having enjoyed (their reward) on the top of heaven, they again enter this world or even a lower one'.¹⁵²⁹ Manu speaks of 'iṣṭa' and 'pūrta' and recommends that one should always practise with a pleased heart sacrificial gifts and gifts of the pūrta kind according to one's ability on securing a deserving brāhmaṇa. The Amarakośa defines 'iṣṭa' as sacrifices and 'pūrta' as works such as digging a well or tank. The Mārkaṇḍeya¹⁵³⁰ defines them as follows 'Maintaining the sacred fires, tapas, truthfulness, study of the Veda, hospitality and Vaiśvadeva-these are called iṣṭa; digging wells and tanks and building temples and distribution of food to those that need it—these are declared to be pūrta. The Agnipurāṇa has similar verses. The Padma (VI. 243. 10-14) cites the following as dharmakārya (religious works); temples of Viṣṇu and Śiva, tanks, wells, lotus ponds, forest of vaṭa, pippala, mango, kakkola, jambu and nimba trees, flower garden, distribution of food from morning to sunset, water distribution outside towns &c. The Skanda¹⁵³¹ says: the term 'pūrta' is applied in the dharma-śāstras to the erection of temples, construction of tanks, ponds and wells, laying out parks. Padma (VI. 244. 34-35) says that those who build monasteries, cow stables, houses of rest on roads, dwellings for ascetics, cottages for the poor and helpless, extensive house for Veda study, houses for brāhmaṇas, enter the world of Indra (i. e. heaven). Atri says¹⁵³² that Iṣṭa and Pūrta are dharma common to all *dvijas*; a śūdra is entitled to perform pūrta-dharmas but not Vaidika rites (i. e. sacrifices). The Anuśāsana-parva (chap. 58) describes how parks should be laid out and tanks constructed with trees on their banks. But the Varāhapurāṇa and some smṛtis went so far as to declare that a man secures only heaven by *iṣṭa*, but he secures mokṣa (final release from saṁsāra) by pūrta¹⁵³³.