Concept of Dāna through the Specturm of the Garuḍapurāṇa and its Impact on the Present Day Society
Jumli Nath
Dr. Jumli Nath, Department of Sanskrit, Gauhati University, Guwahati (Assam), India.
Manuscript received on 29 November 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 04 December 2019 | Manuscript Published on 10 December 2019 | PP: 977-982 | Volume-8 Issue-3S2 October 2019 | Retrieval Number: C12671083S219/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.C1267.1083S219
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The Garuḍapurāṇa is one of the most important Sāttvika Purāṇa which closely deals with all kinds of ethical values viz., dāna, vrata, ācāra, vyāvahāra, prāyaścitta, āśauca etc. This Purāṇa continues to be a perpetual source of inspiration, awakening the intellect of the human society and thereby exert influence on the religion of the people. Puranic literature carries perennial message for the welfare of the mankind. The Garuḍapurāṇa is encyclopaedic in nature and embraces a vast range of subjects like āyurveda, jyotiṣa, astronomy, metrics, grammar, religion and philosophy, cosmogony, the knowledge of supreme Brahman, rebirth, karman, geography, politics and the like. It is also an abstract of Dharmaśāstra which deal with ācāra, vyāvahāra, prāyaścitta, dāna, āśauca etc. All these are some directive complementary to each other which regulate the behaviour of human conduct in a right way and therefore these are the principal objects of discussion in Dharmaśāstra literature. Among these different topics of Dharmaśāstra, the Dānadharma has great spiritual and moral value in the Hindu society because it has been playing an important role in moulding the character and behaviour of the people of our country through ages. Dāna or charity means to give anything forever without any expectation of return. It is regarded as the best form of dharma which promotes the high ideal of human values. It is one kind of help and act of giving or sharing anything with others without a selfish motive or desire for its results with the intention of welfare or to help. It benefits both the giver and receiver and promotes peace and harmony in the society by favouring economic equilibrium. In the Garuḍapurāṇa four types of dāna are mentioned. These are nitya (daily), naimittika (occasional), kāmya (made with the desire of fruits) and vimala (pure or disinterested). All these have great numerous values in the society of the time of Garuḍapurāṇa. Here, in this paper, a modest attempt is made to highlight the value of dānadharma and its impact on society through the spectrum of Garuḍapurāṇa.
Keywords: Garuḍapurāṇa, Dāna, Nitya, Naimittika, Kāmya, Vimala Etc.
Scope of the Article: Social Sciences