https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=GosahasraGosahasra - Revision history2026-07-31T11:55:58ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Gosahasra&diff=119068&oldid=prev>Citation bot at 04:56, 12 April 20212021-04-12T04:56:06Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|ritual donation described in the ancient texts of India}}<br />
'''Gosahasra''' or '''go-sahasra-dana''' (literally "the gift of a thousand cows") is a ritual donation described in the ancient texts of [[India]]. It is one of the [[sixteen great gifts]] (''shodasha-mahadana''), and is frequently mentioned in the ancient inscriptions.<br />
<br />
== Scriptural authority ==<br />
<br />
The ''[[Atharvaveda]]''-''[[parishishta]]'', composed in the 1st millennium BCE, mentions gosahasra, along with [[hiranyagarbha (donation)|hiranyagarbha]] and [[tulapurusha]] donations.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}} These three donations are included among the [[sixteen great gifts]] in the later text ''[[Matsya Purana]]''; the relevant section of the text appears to have been composed during 550-650 CE.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|pp=145-146}} The Matsya Purana states that several ancient kings performed the great gifts,{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}} and these three donations are most prominent among the great gifts recorded in historical inscriptions.{{sfn|Marko Geslani|2018|p=206}}<br />
<br />
The ''[[Linga Purana]]'' also mentions the sixteen great gifts; according to R. C. Hazara, the relevant portion of the text was composed during c. 600-1000 CE, most probably after 800 CE. The great gifts are further detailed in the later digests devoted to the topic of charity ([[dāna]]), such as [[Ballala Sena|Ballala]]'s ''Dana-sagara'', and the ''Danakhanda'' section of [[Hemadri]]'s ''Chaturvarga-chintamani'' (13th century).{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=146}}<br />
<br />
== Historical performers ==<br />
<br />
* The inscriptions of the [[Shalankayana]] and [[Vishnukundin]] kings (c. 4th-6th centuries) mention gosahasra and hiranyagarbha performances.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=152}}<br />
* Attivarman (c. 4th century) of [[Ananda Gotrika|Ananda dynasty]] of [[Guntur district|Guntur]] region performed gosahsra and hiranyagarbha.{{sfn|Marko Geslani|2018|p=192}} Damodaravarman of this dynasty also made these two donations.{{sfn|Suvira Jaiswal|1981|p=145}}<br />
* The [[Tugu inscription]] of [[Purnavarman]] (c. 5th century), a ruler of [[Tarumanagara]] in present-day Indonesia, records a gift of a thousand cows to brahmanas.{{sfn|J. Noorduyn|H. Verstappen|1972|p=298}}<br />
* The [[Siripuram, Srikakulam district|Siripuram]] inscription of the [[Vasishtha dynasty|Vasishtha]] king Anantavarman (c. 5th century) records gosahasra and other donations by his grandfather Gunavarman.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|1994|p=85}}<br />
* [[Jayantavarman]] alias Cendan (c. 7th century) of [[Pandya dynasty]], according to one of his inscriptions, "castigated the [[Kaliyuga|Kali age]]" by performing gosahsra along with hiranyagarbha and tulapursuha.{{sfn|Florinda De Simini|2016|p=32}}<br />
* An inscription of the Pandya king Varaguna I (r. c. 768-811) states that his father and grandfather performed hiranyagarbha, tulabhara and gosahasra many times.{{sfn|Annette Schmiedchen|2006|p=173}}<br />
* The Pandya king Nedumaran, according to his [[Madurai]] inscription, performed many great gifts including those of gosahasra, tulabhara (tulapurusha), and hiranyagarbha.{{sfn|R. Nagaswamy|1981|p=78}}<br />
* [[Chandradeva]] (c. 1099 CE) of [[Gahadavala dynasty]] performed gosahasra and tulapurusha donations in front of an idol of [[Vishnu|Adikeshava]], and then granted some villages, according to his Chandravati inscription{{sfn|V. B. Mishra|1973|p=70}}<br />
* Anavema Reddi (14th century) of [[Reddi kingdom|Reddi dynasty]] made the gosahasra donation.{{sfn|Kambhampati Satyanarayana|1983|p=135}}<br />
* [[Krishnadevaraya]] (r. 1509-1529) of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] performed the sixteen great gifts according to the 1510 [[Rameswaram, Kadapa district|Rameswaram]] inscription and the 1513 [[Srikalahasti]] inscription.{{sfn|M. Krishna Kumari|1998|p=30}} His 1521 Chikalparvi inscription records the performance of gosahasra along with that of other great gifts of ratnadhenu, hiranashva, and tulapurusha.{{sfn|New Indian Express|2017}}<br />
* [[Venkata I]] (r. c. 1542) and [[Tirumala Deva Raya]] (r. c. 1565-1572) of Vijayanagara also performed all the great gifts including the gosahasra.{{sfn|M. Krishna Kumari|1998|p=30}}<br />
* [[Dodda Kempadevaraja]] (r. c. 1659-1673) of [[Mysore Kingdom|Mysore]] of performed the sixteen great gifts, including gosahsra.{{sfn|Krishnaji Chitnis|2003|p=80}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
=== Bibliography ===<br />
<br />
{{ref begin}}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Annette Schmiedchen |author-link=Annette Schmiedchen |chapter=The Ceremony of Tulāpuruṣa: The Purāṇic Concept and the Epigraphical Evidence |editor1=Adalbert J. Gail |editor2=Gerd J. R. Mevissen |editor3=Richard Salomon |title=Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwkOdPtZmVcC&pg=PA145 |year=2006 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2944-2 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Florinda De Simini |title=Of Gods and Books: Ritual and Knowledge Transmission in the Manuscript Cultures of Premodern India |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.doa.109 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dli.doa.109/page/n44 32] |year=2016 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-047881-5 }}<br />
* {{cite journal |author1=J. Noorduyn |author2=H. Verstappen |title=Purnavarmans river-works near Tugu |journal=[[Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde]] |volume=128 |issue=2/3 |year=1972 |pages=298–307 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90002752 |jstor=27861261 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Kambhampati Satyanarayana |title=A study of the history and culture of the Andhras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zb21AAAAIAAJ |year=1983 |publisher=People's Publishing House }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Krishnaji Chitnis |title=Medieval Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMcIu7kL42MC&pg=PA80 |year=2003 |publisher=Atlantic |isbn=978-81-7156-062-2 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=M. Krishna Kumari |title=Facets of Andhra culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCbuAAAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Gyan Sagar |isbn=978-81-86987-04-9 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Marko Geslani |title=Rites of the God-King: Santi and Ritual Change in Early Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT192 |year=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-086290-9 |pages=192–}}</ref><br />
* {{cite news |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2017/nov/21/stone-inscriptions-of-vijayanagara-empire-era-discovered-in-raichur-1706593.html |title=Stone inscriptions of Vijayanagara empire era discovered in Raichur |newspaper=The New Indian Express |date=21 November 2017 |ref={{harvid|New Indian Express|2017}} }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=R. Nagaswamy |title=Tamil Coins: A Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjsfAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Institute of Epigraphy, Tamilnadu State Department of Archaeology }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Suvira Jaiswal |title=The Origin and Development of Vaiṣṇavism: Vaiṣṇavism from 200 BC to AD 500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sn_XAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |title=Kings, Brāhmaṇas, and temples in Orissa: an epigraphic study AD 300-1147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lluAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0621-2 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=V. B. Mishra |title=Religious Beliefs and Practices of North India During the Early Mediaeval Period |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LB1qhsw10IwC&pg=PA70 |year=1973 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-03610-5 }}<br />
{{ref end}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Rituals in Hindu worship]]<br />
[[Category:Donation]]<br />
[[Category:Hinduism and cattle]]</div>>Citation bot