BESTOW

It was given with ablutions; it has been enjoyed three times; it has been protected by noble men: these acts of the kings of olden days never cease.

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 22 to this stanza.

The sun and the moon, the wind and the fire, the sky, the earth, the waters, the heart and the spirit, and the day, and the night, and the two twilights, know man's deeds, [the act] of dharma.

Like the sun in the sky, they shine with energy, the men who offer earth for [sustaining] a fire established by a brahmin.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Mahābhārata 13.61.43 (GRETIL):

Anuṣṭubh

Āditya, Varuṇa, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Soma, Hutāśana, Śulpāṇis and the Lord rejoice the land-giver.

This verse was identified as a formulaic stanza by Hultzsch 1912 who underlined the presence of this verse in the Mahābhārata 13.61.45. The source quoted by him is Satalma plates of Mahābhavagupta Janamejaya year 8, verse X lines 33-34. Sircar 1965: 177 attributes to this verse the number 4 but he suggests the following reading of the pāda d, which is based on the Mahābhārata's critical edition:

Anuṣṭubh

I am restoring the variant readable in the epigraphic sources (as of 21 March 2025, I have found no occurrence of pratinandanti in the DHARMA database, which then had 3510 entries). This reading (abhinandanti) is also found in the Dānasāgara of Ballālasena (Bhattacharya 1953: 316, verse 6) and is ascribed here to the Dānabṛhaspati.

Yama, Vāruṇa, Vāyu, Śakra, Śukra, Br̥haspati, Candra, Āditya and the Grahas: they all rejoice in one who gives land!

This stanza is quoted in Raktamālā Grant no. 1, year 159 (see Griffiths 2015

Gold is Agni's first born son, Earth Viṣṇu's wife and cows Sun's daughters; the one who gives gold, cows and land, the worlds belongs to him by these three kinds of gifts.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Sircar 1965 makes no mention that a variation of this verse (pāda c and d) can be read in the Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra, 28.16 :

Indravajrā

Gold is the firstborn of Fire; land is the daughter of Viṣṇu; and cows are the children of Sun. A man who gives gift of gold, land or cows obtains an eternal reward. (translation Olivelle 2000: 459)

According to Olivelle 2000: 346, the Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra represents a transitional phase from the prose Dharmasūtras to the verse Smṛtis. Olivelle (Olivelle 2000: 10) places Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra's composition close to the beginning of the common era or even in the first century CE.

Pargiter 1912: 252 mentioned this verse as a customary one. This verse corresponds to the number 5 in the list compiled by Kane 1941: 1272–1277. Sircar 1965: 177 quotes this verse.

O king, even after offering sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma etc, whose fees are substantial, one does not obtain the fruit (obtained) after giving earth.

Even after offering sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma etc, with substantial fees, one does not obtain the fruit (obtained) after giving earth.

Alas, o son of Raghu, the best of kings, during a life of seven kalpa I can’t see or hear the man who steals the gift for his own purpose.

Taxing a tax-exempt land is equal to the slaughter of ten million cows, but exempting a taxable resource from taxes allows us to reach the ultimate goal.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

He who steals a land-gift will be born twelve times in darkness, ten times as a boar, a thousand times as a leper.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Having considered that the fortune is as transient as a drop of water on a lotus petal, and having thought that all is an illustration, let the glorious acts made by others not be destroyed.

Anyone who is enriched by a gift that comes from someone else, or even from another gotra, is tainted with the great sins:

Sin committed in a foreign field disappears in a sacred field. Sin committed in a sacred field remains as a sticking plaster.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Amongst the sins committed in the past and in the future, [there are the cases when] the earth has been taken in an improper manner or taken in a good way has been stolen : [in both these cases] one burns during seven generations.

The one who has stolen what was given to his relatives is the worst and the most malevolent: as a dog, he will eat the vomits of others instead his own.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The slayer of a cow or of a Brahman may perchance find atonement in the Ganges and other holy places; but in the case of appropriation of the possessions of gods and Brahmans there can be no atonement for men.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 20 to this stanza

Whoever gives to a vipra even a small piece of land in his possession will rejoice in heaven for sixty thousand years.

The man who protects the support given to a noble saṅgha, having obtained the heaven, rejoices [there] with a divine soul for millions kalpas.

Even in the unfit saṁsāra, protecting the glorious deeds made by another or by ourselves gives the double fruit in this life.

This gift should be approved by those who proclaim the excellent order of our family and by others; fortune is as shaky as a drop of glistening water, so giving is the fruit that protects glory in the hereafter.

The Fathers are applauding and the Grand-Fathers are hopping up and down [when they can say] ‘A giver of land is born within our lineage, sure, he will deliver us!'

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Pargiter 1912: 252 mentioned this verse as a customary one. Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 11 to this stanza in his list. Sircar 1965: 179 quotes this verse.

The fruit of thousand horse-sacrifices, that of thousand Vājapeya sacrifices, and of thousand solemn sacrifices of the soma pauṇḍarika are worth half that of a gift of land.

The long life, sons, the wealth, the felicity, the happiness, an indestructible royalty, the supremacy, the glory and the heaven, it is what is obtained by a land-giver.

Land has been given by several kings beginning with Sagara. Whoever holds land at a given time, to him does the fruit belong.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

A variation of the pāda b can be read in Vēḷvikkuṭi grant, time of Neṭuñcaṭaiyaṉ, year 3 verse XXIII (in his note 2 p.180 Sircar 1965 silently emends ca narādhipaiḥ):

Anuṣṭubh

A variation of the padā b can be read in Kalaikuri-Sultanpur Plate of the Time of Kumāragupta I verse IV lines 32-33:

Anuṣṭubh

Pargiter 1912: 249 mentioned this verse as a customary one. This verse corresponds to the number 1 in the list of forty-three customary stanzas compiled by Kane 1941: 1271–1277. He edits this one with the reading dattā instead of bhuktā (pāda a). In his note 1, he offers a lot of epigraphic quotations of this verse and the following references: PadmaPurāṇa, VI, 33, 26-27; BhaviṣyaPurāṇa, IV, 164, 22 (with bhuktā, for dattā); Br̥haspatisaṁhitā, verse 26; Vr̥ddha-Gautama, according to Aparārka.

What can I say? Here is a summary : health is short and wealth instable, but dharma remains in the two worlds.

Among the best sacrificial vessels, among the best holy places, among the best occasions, may the earth-gift be a way out of the infinite and deep ocean of rebirth !

In this world, there is no gift such as the gift of land. The land-giver obtains all his desires.

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 18 to this stanza.

The land-giver, the pure one who orders a land-gift and the one who will protect it, all these men go to heaven.

There has never been and will never be a gift superior to the gift of land, nor has there ever been or will ever be a sin [superior] to the seizing of the same.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The one who receives a land and the one who offers a land, both of them are men with meritorious deeds who are surely going to heaven.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 15 to this stanza in his list.

The givers of earth rejoice in heaven, and alas, they fall, the lords who steal the earth, vile men, into the hell. Having observed this double and balancing fortune, may you work for the longevity desired by his Majesty !

There is no better gift than the gift of earth and the preservation is better than the gift. By protecting the very well-granted earth all the kings starting with Nr̥ga have reached the triple heaven.

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 17 to this stanza.

The man who enjoys the property of a Brahmin through (a breach of ) trust, he burns his family to the seventh generation and the man who enjoy it by force, (burns) ten ancestors and ten descendants !

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

A variation of this stanza can be read in Kāsipura Grant of Ravivarman, line 19 (not mentioned by Sircar 1965:

Anuṣṭubh

The Vehicles and forces maintained with the wealth misappropriated from the brahmins break down at the time of battle like bunds made of sand.

Don’t think about the property of a brahmin, even if his vital breath is gone to his throat ! All the things burnt by fire grow up (again) but one thing burnt by a brahmin never grows again!

Unsteady is the Whealth, as well as are the breaths and the youth of the life; indeed within the moving to and from saṁsāra the only firm thing is dharma.

Prosperity is unsteady, youth is shattered in an instant, life is a step away from death, yet this counts for little when it comes to achievement in the next world. Alas! that which works miracles for men requires effort!

Thus, the Moon and the Sun, the Earth, the enligthening Sky, the Wind, the Stars as well the Fire, along with the king of dharma (Yama),

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

the three twilights, the three Vedas, the triad Gods, the three fires, ah ! during the night, all of these are known as the witnesses of the gift!

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The purāṇas whose wisdom is undoubtful, tell that what is born from the protection is really superior to the gift, it is the best dharmic act among the dharmic ones! Hence, may that the earth be given to a twice born knowing the śruti and born in a very pious lineage and may your unique thought be to protect it !

Bliss and misfortune are both the fruit of the gift and the protection. What's the point? After having left the sky, one falls again in the hell.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Between gift and preservation, preservation is better than gift : by gift one obtains Heaven but by preservation one never falls again.

Sircar 1965: page 182, note 6 mentions this stanza as a variation of best_0040. The bibliographic references given are Ep. Carn., Vol. VIII, Tl. No. 73; Ep. Carn., Vol. II, Nos., 253, 327; Vol. III, My. Nos. 7, 32;Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 104, text lines 103-105

He lives very high in the sky, the man who makes a gift as well as the one who authorizes it, He firmly cooks in the Raurava the one who steals a land or the one who contributes to this theft.

Oh! Gladdener of your race! He that makes a gift on this earth blesses (his) ten generations past and future; and he that takes away (that which has been given) destroys ten generations past and future.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Sircar 1965: № Stanza 42, 183 silently emends kurunandana in the pāda d. As I find no occurence of this reading, I reproduce the reading (kulanandana) found in the source quoted by Sircar himself (see Vēḷvikkuṭi grant, time of Neṭuñcaṭaiyaṉ, year 3 verse XXI).

The man who gives (land) is blessed for ten (generations), the one withdrawing it destroys ten generations. Resuming a land already given drives someone to hells.

The gifts which have been here granted by former princes producing virtue, wealth and fame are comparable to the remains of offerings to the gods. What good man could resume them? (translation EI24_12, p.217)

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 9 to this stanza in his list with the following reading (pāda a):

Indravajrā

If the property of divinity is destroyed and if the property of Brahmins is stolen, this property will cause the ruin of the family and the destruction of the soul.

Whoever takes advantage of the divinity's goods, whoever interferes in ritual activities or whoever blasphemes, will be reborn without a son.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

After being burnt by the fires of the five terrifying great sins above mentioned, those who seize gifts made to Brahmins will go to the hell.

This stanza is quoted in Akki-Ālūr (Kir̥ukuppuṭūra) Grant of Kr̥ṣṇavarman II, Year 15, lines 18-19 (see Gai 1996: s.v. 38, 147–148, attributed to the Dharmaśāstra of Manu..

Anyone who steals land once owned and belonging to gods or brahmins, is called a Brahmin murderer even if long dead.

He who desired a single yava (measure of a barley grain) from the god's property or a single tila (measure of a sesame grain) from a Brahmin's property, will go to hell and ruin his lineage.

Men who steal the properties of gods and Brahmins in this world, without fear of hell, because of their foolishness, burn in hell.

Through dharma grow kingship, glory and earth; thanks to dharma, the Fathers become satisfied; thanks to dharma, Gods are pleased.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Therefore dharma done by oneself or by another should be protected with effort by the earth-ruler who wishes the two worlds.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Thanks to dharma, the king Paijana enjoyed the earth for ever, and on the contrary, because of his adharma, Nahuṣa was precipitated into the underworld

The twice-born are not contemptible since they are the source of knowledge in the triple world : one should honoured them like a god with gifts, respect and praises etc.

The land given to brahmin (vipra) should not be enjoyed nor taken for taxes ; it is in this world the unique prosperous thing for all the kings.

Like a snakeskin, a simple gift of land frees us from a fault that would be worth a stay in hell for twenty-one generations.

The one who steals a single cow, one piece of gold or a half aṅgula of land will stay in hells up to the dissolution of the created things.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 14 to this stanza in his list with the following reading:

Anuṣṭubh

The specks of dust from earth are countable, so are the raindrops, but the fruits of dharma protection are immeasurable, even for the creator.

After approaching cows, land or a wife, after stealing one of his possessions and not returning it, once discovered, he is tainted with the murder of a Brahmin by the king/he is smeared by the sin of a brahmin's murder

The fruit that returns to the giver in sacred places such as Gayā, Godāvarī, the Ganges, Prayāga etc. is identical in every way to the protection of the earth.

Whoever destroys (this) is endued by this act with the murder of a cow and the murder of a Brahmin, as well as the murder of a child, the murder of a vipra and the murder of a sage.

For those whose livelihood has been stolen, priests, donors, citizens who lament, as many as grains of dust fall their tears.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kings, nobles of the court, as well as those without means, those who have seized the land of a Brahmin will burn in the Kumbhīpāka for as many years (as the number of tears shed).

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Riding in a divine chariot pulled by swans, the earth giver travels to the world of the gods, while the one who seizes it is cooked by the messengers of Kāla in a heated jar full of boiling oil.

Let this be given for Hara's satisfying thanks to Śiva's devotee; this pure gift is the only one that brings liberation.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The foolish man who seizes or makes [a land] seized, covered by obscurity and bound by Vāruṇa’s noose, he will be born again in an animal womb.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

A man who steals land offered to a god, or even to a Brahmin or a guru, whether it is given by him or another, goes to hell.

Poison kills the person who ingests it; fire is extinguished by water; the man whose fire is produced by wood from a Brahmin's property burns his entire family.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Gold, gems, pearls, clothes and jewels, all these are given by those who make a land-gift.

Whoever seizes a debt or land or has them seized, these three go to hell as long as fourteen of the fourtheenth lunations lasts.

An act performed in this world is rewarded in the hereafter, just as a fruit can be seen among the branches of a tree whose base has been watered.

Those who destroy this dharma and those who associate themselves with this destruction are the sons of hunters, Mleccha, Cāṇḍāla and tanners.

Having considered that fortune and human life were as transient as a drop of water on a lotus petal, and having thought that the entire world is an illustration, let the glorious acts made by others not be destroyed by men.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Knowing this, this land donation given by me cannot be destroyed by all the future kings who have knowledge and good intentions for themselves.

Those who donate dharma will reside in the world of Brahma for hundreds and thousands of years.

Anyone who neglects (this) in deed, thought or word, even with good reason, will be a caṇḍāla forever excluded from all (ritual) acts.

It never ceases to grow, the fruit of the actions of those who make it, those who have it made, those who originate it, and even those who accept it, even after these fortunate people have died.

Land that has been totally conquered and land that has been in the possession of ten other people cannot be seized by a king for a hundred years.

What I have signed is equivalent to ten million vājapeyas, a hundred thousand viśvajit and a thousand aśvamedha..

A man who gives a plot of land as a livelihood to a miserable, to someone become poor, to someone emaciated by his way of life, to someone who is dying, by this conduct, he becomes happy and obtains all his desires.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

This land is dear to many people, like an adulterous wife; this injured body is perishable; if the good deed is not firmly done now, the fire of regret will burn you in misfortune.

A man lying about a small animal kills five (of them), one lying about a cow kills ten, one lying about a horse kills hundred, one lying about a man kills one thousand.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

A variation of this verse can be read in the Pañcatantra III.109 (source:https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_viSNuzarman-paJcatantra.htm) .

Anuṣṭubh

Narasimhachar 1913 is the first to indicate this verse as a formulaic stanza. He claims that this stanza is to be found in a donation issued by a Gaṅga king, but for the moment, the bibliographical information he provides has not enabled me to find this source. To date (21/03/2025), I have found no occurrence of this stanza in epigraphic sources.

A man lying about the golden lord kills the born and the unborn, one lying about the earth kills everything, so nothing false should be said on earth.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

This stanza can be read in Amoda plates of the Haihaya King Jajalladeva of the (Cedi) year 912 (see Hira Lal 1927–1928 with the following variation (already mentioned by Sircar 1965: note 1, 188

Anuṣṭubh

Narasimhachar 1913 is the first to indicate this verse as a formulaic stanza. Unlike the previous stanza, a variation of it can be found in one inscription. Sircar 1965: note 1, 188 reproduced all the information given by his predecessor. He added the parallel with Br̥haspatisaṁhitā.

He who gives a gift will save seven generations and seven again and seven again; he who will steal it, will cause seven to fall deeper and deeper and seven again and seven again.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The man lost by sin, with his intoxicated soul, who steals men out of greed, will roast in the dreadful hell for countless kalpas.

Men can survive a poison made of copper or stone, but in the three worlds no one can survive [a steal of] a brahmin property.

Have no doubt about the fruit of what is given by another, o sons of Pr̥thu, the fruit is eternal both for him who gives in person and for him who protects what is given by another.

For the success of the fruits of my gift and for the benefit of the fruits of its protection, this dharma that I am carrying out must be protected by the kings as long as the moon and stars last.

The king who protects the gift I have given to the virtuous twice-born, I pay him homage by laying my crown at his divine feet.

This earth is a prey to be enjoyed, but one that still stinks with the overflowing fat of the two demons, Madhu and Kaitaba. Kings can profit from this earth for a long time only if they parfume it with their own glory. (Törzsök, J. 2006. Rāma beyond price by Murāri. Clay Sanskrit Library )

Narasimhachar 1913 is the first to indicate this verse as a formulaic stanza (quoted in an inscription dated A.D.1521 recorded in Archaeological Survey Of Mysore Annual Report: 1912 Vol.4, paragraph 108, pp.91-92, and published in Epigraphia Carnatica, vol.III, Tirumakūḍlu-narasīpūr Taluq 44). Sircar 1965: note 1, 188 reproduced all the information given by his predecessor. In Murāri's work, the stanza is attributed to the sage Vasiṣṭha.

To the future kings on earth born in my lineage or born from another royal lineage, whose minds are deprived of sin and who protect this entire dharma of mine, I offer my respectful reverence.

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 21 to this stanza.

Whatever king born in my lineage or in another lineage, if he destroys my glory, let me be tied to his hand/beneficiary of his royal tax.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Even for the greatest sins, there is forgiveness in the treatises, but for those who have stolen a gift made to the Brahmins, there is no forgiveness.

You must never, o Pārthiva, ever covet a land-gift offered to a Brahmin, even in thought, as this would be a poison similar to venom whose remedy is dharma.

Indeed, Death's servants and their sticks, the frightful falls into the fire and Vāruṇa's terrifying laces don't come near the earth giver.

The one who does not give what has been promised or the one who steals what has been given, both are tormented by Vāruṇa's nooses on Mr̥tyu's orders.

No gift is greater than the gift of land; nor is there a greater sin enjoined (on man) than (that of) resuming land (already given).

There is nothing like a gift of land; no master like a king; no dharma like truth; no treasure like a gift.

There is no knowledge without reward, no wealth without profit, so the sages say that there is only one gift in Kali Yuga.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kr̥ta-Tretā-Dvāpareṣu, etc. See No. 97, note.

They said that the poison is not poison, the property of a brahmin is also said to be a poison: the poison kills only one man while the (steal of) a brahmin property kills sons and grandsons !

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

A variation of this stanza (pādas a and b) can be read in Kāsipura Grant of Ravivarman, line 17:

Anuṣṭubh

Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 11 to this stanza in his list.

Bearing in mind the serious consequences of stealing land and the benefits received for its protection, what has been given by great men must be protected: protection is greater than a gift.

Land acquired legally, if it is seized illegally, those who seize it or those who cause it to be seized destroy up to the seventh generation.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

From protection comes supreme dharma, from protection supreme glory, from protection supreme paradise, so protection is the most important.

After abandoning his sin as one abandons a snake's skin, thanks to the gift of land for the construction of temples, brick by brick he reached heaven for twenty-one generations of ancestors.

Whoever one day destroys the land given by another, bound by Vāruṇa's lace he will be thrown into purulent blood.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

There is no better divine provisions for the heaven than the gift of land; so, it must be protected with the greatest respect.

The tears of the unfortunate weeping and succumbing fall: when land is taken from Brahmins, it kills a family over three generations.

He who gives land furrowed by the plough together with seed and abounding with crop, abides in heaven so long as the sun continues to give light to the world. (EI24, p.217)

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 16 to this stanza in his list with the following reading (pāda b):

Anuṣṭubh

It is said that dharma is the fruit; from this fruit it is impossible for it to be fruitless; he who seizes a piece of land, taking its fruit, let him obtain fruitlessness from this fruit.

The rules have been established for the welfare of the people and the wise should observe them in regard to duties (dharma). The evil-minded one who seizes through greed or foolishness, blind he will immediately go to the bad and suffering hell.

You will obtain many riches: this is the result of what was given before; by giving again, you will become richer.

The gift made without generosity and the gift made by stealing another gift render sterile all that has been given since birth.

We know that generally there is no virtuous path for the best of men, but they always purify themselves by offering land.

Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 12 to this stanza in his list.

He will stay in Brahma's world for as many thousands of years as there are grains of dust on the earth he has given.

Whoever steals a piece of land given by the elders or by others before them, stuck forever in sin, will dwell again and again in hell.

Jewels, food, drink, cattle and so on, everything comes from the earth ; therefore by making a gift of land, a man becomes the giver of all of these.

The earth stretches for eighty-six thousand yojana; oh, for such a good deed, whoever gives a village gets heaven !

Giving is immediate and effortless, whereas protection is long-term and requires effort; this is why the sages say that protection is superior to giving.

Rāmacandra begs repeatedly to all these future kings: "this bridge of dharma which is common to all the kings, you always must protect it!".

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The verse is mentioned by Burnell 1878: 98 as a quotation found in Devaṇabhaṭṭa's Smṛticandrikā (see Srinivasacharya 1914). It is used in Smṛticandrikā as a part of the argument for the production of a written document. It is given as an example of stanza to be quoted to inform future kings and their vassals (variation in pāda d) :

Śālinī

After this quotation, Devaṇabhaṭṭa adds that the king himself should write "by my own hand" (tato rājā svayaṃ svahastaṃ likhet).

Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 10 to this stanza in his list with the following reading (inversion pādas ab and cd and bhūmipalān instead of pārthivendrān):

Śālinī

This bridge of dharma is common to all the kings on earth, so that it should always be protected by the noble lords.

A conch, a throne, an umbrella, the best horses and elephants are the flowers of land-donation, its fruit is the sky, o destroyer of strongholds!

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Sircar 1965: 177 attributes to this verse the number 119. The reading of the pāda c suggested here is based on the Mahābhārata's critical edition. An alternative reading cihnāni instead of puṣpāṇi is found in numerous epigraphic records.

When you seize land, you seize everything, there's no doubt about it; consequently, the thief of land will dwell forever in hell.

The fruit of all gifts lasts for one lifetime. The fruit of gold, land, and cows lasts for seven lifetimes.

Among all the gifts, the gift of land is extolled: a man overcomes sins accumulated over ten millions of kalpas.

Whoever gives land will rejoice in heaven for sixty thousand years, but whoever challenges [a gift] or approves [the challenge] will spend the same length of time in hell.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

There is a regular variation on the first word of the padā c (Ākṣeptā instead of Ācchettā. See for example Satalma plates of Mahābhavagupta Janamejaya year 8 verse 4.

Pargiter 1912: 249 mentioned this verse as a customary one. Jolly 1913: 675 indicates that the beginning of the verse is quoted in Devaṇabhaṭṭa's Smṛticandrikā (see Srinivasacharya 1914). In this context, the verse is attributed to Vyāsa and quoted as a part of the argument for the production of a written document. It is intended to inform future kings and their vassals :

Anuṣṭubh

This verse corresponds to the number 2 in the list compiled by Kane 1941: 1272–1277.

The gift is [worth] a hundred if it is performed at the new moon, a thousand at the nightfall, a hundred thousand at the equinox and an infinite number during eclipses.

Dharma is performed even by enemies and must be protected, O king. For while the enemy remains an enemy, the dharma has no enemy.

Whatever the accumulation of dharma, the oblation poured out in sacrifice or the word of truth, all this is destroyed by the seizure of a boundary (sīmā) by even half of an inch.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The land-givers go where there are golden palaces and wish-fulfilling streams of whealth, in the abode of Apsaras and Gandharvas.

Protecting the gift made by others is twice as meritorious as making a gift; one's own gift becomes fruitless by harming the gift made by others.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Whoever steals land given by himself or by another to a vipra or a god will be born in an injurious condition for millions and millions of years

Anuṣṭubh

The men who protect a land given by himself or by another, will stay happy in the world of Rudra during thousand millions of years.

O Yudhiṣṭhira, you must carefully protect land that has been given by yourself or by others to the brahmins, preservation is even better than giving a land.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The one who would steal land given by himself or another becomes a worm in excrement and is cooked with his ancestors.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

This verse is found with several variations in the epigraphical records. Below the standard stanza edited by Sircar 1965 (numbered here best_132_00), I have listed all the major variations and have numbered them with an extented number. Each of these major variations can present minor variations. Below are the minor variations of the verse 132_00.

The verse 132_00 is found with a regular variation on the pāda c: sva-viṣṭhāyāṁ or śva-viṣṭhāyāṁ instead of sa viṣṭhāyāṁ.

For the sva-viṣṭhāyāṁ variation, see the Ghagrahati Charter of the Time of Samācāradeva, Year 14:

Anuṣṭubh

For the śva-viṣṭhāyāṁ variation, see the Faridpur Undated Charter of Dharmāditya:

Anuṣṭubh

One of the main variation of the pāda d is the inverted order of the word (see for example Gaintala plates of Mahābhavagupta Janamejaya year 17, line 25-36), but one can also read synonyms for the verb pacyate like in the Grant n°3: Eleven Land-Grants of the Chalukyas of Aṇhilvād (for majjati, see also Benares Copper-plate Grant of Govindracandra of Kanauj Saṁvat 1162, lines 22-23; Plate of Govindracandra of Vikrama-saṁvat 1182 with majjati):

Anuṣṭubh

I reproduce below a particular variation mentioned by Sircar 1965 but I was not able to find the text in the bibliographical reference he quotesHe quoted Ep. Carn., Vol. VII, Tm. No. 51.:

Anuṣṭubh

Sircar 1965 makes no mention that a variation of this verse can be read in the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra, II.2.26 :

Anuṣṭubh

If a man uses sesame for any purpose other than eating, anointing, and giving as a gift, reborn as a worm, he will plunge into a pile of a dog sheet together with his ancestors. (translation Olivelle 2000: 249)

According to Olivelle 2000: 191, the book one and the first sixteen chapters of the book two belongs to the "proto-Baudhāyana". This author dates the composition of the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra not before the middle of the second century BCE (Olivelle 2000: 10).

The stanza found in the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra can also be read with minor variations in the Mahābhārata 14.96.15*004_2381-2382:

Anuṣṭubh

A variation of this stanza is found in the Mahābhārata 14.96.15*004_1109-1110 (GRETIL):

Anuṣṭubh

There is no expiation anywhere [to exit] from the terrible hell for the man who would steal land given by himself or another.

The Hindol Plate of Kulastambha, line 27 (see Sircar 1949–1950) quotes this verse with a minor variation in the pāda b:

Anuṣṭubh

Pargiter 1912: 250 mentioned this verse as a customary one. This verse corresponds to the number 4 in the list compiled by Kane 1941: 1272–1277. He quotes it with the following reading (pāda d):

Anuṣṭubh

He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, imbibes the sin (kilbiṣa) of the slayer of a hundred thousand cows.

This verse corresponds to the number 3 in the list compiled by Kane 1941: 1272–1277. He quotes it with the following reading (pāda d):

Anuṣṭubh

He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, imbibes the crime (duṣkr̥ta) of the slayer of a hundred thousand cows.

Pargiter 1912: 250 (3c) mentioned this verse as a customary one. Sircar 1965: note 2, 196 quotes this variation.

He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, will be reborn as a worm in n excrement for sixty thousand years.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

The verse is quoted in the Chikkulla plates of Vikramendravarman with the following variation in the pāda d (which is not mentioned by Mirashi 1977(Nagaraju 1981(Burgess and Bühler 1883(Parasher-Sen 2007(Kamalakar and Veerender 2008(Kamalakar and Veerender 2005(Dunbabin 2003(Poolsuwan 2022(Kielhorn 1896–1897(Chakravarti 1930(Peera Panarut 2022(Peera Panarut 2019(Grabowsky 2022(Jákl 2016(Cœdès and Damais 1992(Creese 1998(Elliot 1825–1832(Fleet 1898–1899(n.d.(“Viramitrodaya (p. 194 to the Effect That an Imprecatory Verse from the Puranas Shall Be Inserted in the Gr,” n.d.(“Elementssouthin05burngoog.Pdf” n.d.(van Stein Callenfels and van Vuuren 1924(Srinivasacharya 1914(Narasimhachar 1913(Hultzsch 1912, even though he quotes this record as the source for stanza best_st0057):

Anuṣṭubh

The verse is quoted in the Halsi Grant of Harivarman , Year 5 with the following variation in the pāda d (variation already mentioned by Sircar 1965: note 2, 196)

Anuṣṭubh

The verse is quoted in the Halsi Grant of Ravivarman, Year 11 with the following variation in the pāda d (variation already mentioned by Sircar 1965: note 2, 196):

Anuṣṭubh

The verse is quoted in the Birur Grant of Viṣṇuvarman, Year 3 (spurious) with the following variation in the pāda d (variation already mentioned by Sircar 1965: note 2, 196):

Anuṣṭubh

The verse is quoted in the Penukonda Plates of Mādhava II (III), verse 3 line 19 (see Rice 1917–1918) and on copper-plates of the Jaina-basti in ruins at Noṇamaṅgala (see Epigraphia Carnatica, volume X, Malur, n°72, DHARMA IS: INSEC10Mr072) with the following variation in the pāda d:

Anuṣṭubh

The verse is quoted in the Upalada Plates of Rāṇaka Rāmadeva, lines 13-15 (Chhabra 1935–1936) with the following variation in the pāda d:

Anuṣṭubh

The king who does not rescue or sustain what is given by himself or given by another, surely (dhruvam) drinks the poison (named) Hālahala from birth to birth. translation given in DHARMA_INSEIAD00161

This variation is not quoted by Sircar 1965, but it is found in one of the earliest records of the Śālaṅkāyana dynasty. This prakrit inscription contains two final stanzas in sanskrit (see Krishna Rao 1955–1956 and Piḍiha grant (Kānukollu plates, set I) — reign of Nandivarman I, year 14 : in this inscription, a space precedes the sanskrit part of the inscription and the two stanzas are introduced by the word bhavati cātra).

The verse is quoted in the Charkari Plate of Devavarmandeva: [vikrama] samvat 1108, line 21 (see Mirashi 1977(Nagaraju 1981(Burgess and Bühler 1883(Parasher-Sen 2007(Kamalakar and Veerender 2008(Kamalakar and Veerender 2005(Dunbabin 2003(Poolsuwan 2022(Kielhorn 1896–1897(Chakravarti 1930(Peera Panarut 2022(Peera Panarut 2019(Grabowsky 2022(Jákl 2016(Cœdès and Damais 1992(Creese 1998(Elliot 1825–1832(Fleet 1898–1899(n.d.(“Viramitrodaya (p. 194 to the Effect That an Imprecatory Verse from the Puranas Shall Be Inserted in the Gr,” n.d.(“Elementssouthin05burngoog.Pdf” n.d.(van Stein Callenfels and van Vuuren 1924(Srinivasacharya 1914(Narasimhachar 1913(Hultzsch 1912).

The verse is quoted in the Hansot Plates of the Chahamana Bhartrivaddha, Samvat 813, lines 28-29 (see Konow 1913–1914).

This variation is quoted in a stone inscription of the Nīlakanṇṭha temple at Hechche, see Epigraphia Carnatica, volume VIII, Sb 477 (DHARMA ID: INSEC08Sb477).

To him that robs land given by himself or by others, there is no expiation anywhere except in the dreadful hell.

See the Vēḷvikkuṭi Grant, time of Neṭuñcaṭaiyaṉ, year 3, verse 22 (Krishna Sastri 1923–1924.

The verse is quoted in the Malga plates of Samanta Indraraja, lines 22-23 (see Sircar and Sankaranarayanan 1959–1960

This verse is quoted in the Upalada Plates of Ranaka Ramadeva, lines 11-13 (Chhabra 1935–1936) and is followed by a variation of best_0132_03.

This variation is quoted in the Ipur plates of Madhavavarman II, line 13 (see Hultzsch 1923–1924).

The one who would steal land rich of crops becomes a worm in excrement and is cooked with his ancestors.

Pargiter 1912: 250 mentioned this verse as a customary one. Sircar 1965: note 2, 196 quotes this variation.

A daughter given by oneself, a nurse, a girl given by her father, a sister born of the same womb, a girl given by another and one's own mother should abandon the land given to them.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

By giving even a small piece of land with faith, one goes to Brahma abode from which there is no return.

It is possible (i.e. easy) to give away what is yours, [even if it is] a great thing; [but] it is hard to preserve the property of another. [When it comes to] the question, “donation or preservation [of previous grants]?”—[the answer is that] preservation is superior to donation.

Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 7 to this stanza in his list.

The protection of one's own good deeds is to be cherished, as it is the protection of the gods. Even Hari, the creator of the lotus-seated one, was always worshipped by the worlds.

Neither thousands of tank consecrations, neither hundreds of Vājapeya sacrifices, nor millions of cow-gifts could purify a land-thief.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Fortune is like lightning, the body is also like a blazing fire, the existence ends with solely misery; for those who destroy the good acts performed by others there is no fame and in this world for those who protect them with effort the glory last as long as the moon and the stars last. Having this in mind, the kings should act as it is prescribed in the scriptures.

No such merit is generated for us kings when we give land, as that which occurs when we protect the foundation of another.

The very hot sun does not shine nor does the fierce wind blow

Knowing that life is a water-buble or like a drop of water on the tip of a blade of grass, one should not destroyed one's fame and dharma.

Three gifts are said to be supreme: cows, land and speech. Their fruits last for seven generations through milking, carrying and teaching.

The gift made by speech, the one made by mind and the one made with the hand, the kuśa grass and water, one who steals these three kinds of gift would go to the terrible hell.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

By offering fire, the son of fire and water, he is born five timesThe word pañca-kr̥tvaḥis an emendation made by Hultzsch. , but by offering all the earth rasā, the mortal is not born again.

The one who gives water obtains satisfaction, the one who gives food an eternal bliss, the one who offers sesame seeds is fulfilled with the wished descendance, like the one who gives a lamp, o best of the Kurus, the one who gives land obtains all including a long life.

This sovereignty of the earth totters like the wind and the clouds; the enjoyment of realm is sweet but for an instant; the breath of man is like a drop of water on the tip of a blade of grass. Only religious merit is the friend on the journey to the other world. (translation EI24_12 p.217)

The sages and the gods say sentences composed from the memory of the words of the veda; You, land thieves and others, alas, that you do not steal out of folly !

Having understood that the the world stability is trembling like a lightning, with Your minds intensely attached to fame, rejoicing only and always in doing good for others, engaged in the propitiation of the dharma, You should approve [of this].

That one who takes away that which has been sanctioned (aṅkita) by (a royal) decree (śāsana) incurs the fate of one who murders his lord, cows, Brahmins, children, women or ascetics.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Those who steal ancient gifts are reborn as black serpents dwelling in hollow tress in the dried up forests of the Vindhya mountains.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Kane 1941: 1273 attributes the number 8 to this stanza in his list with the following reading (pāda c and d).

Anuṣṭubh

Those who steal ancient gifts are reborn as black serpents dwelling in hollow trees in forests without water to drink.

Pargiter 1912: 251 and Sircar 1965: note 6, 199 mentioned this verse as a variation of the previous one. Because of its frequency, I have given it a specific number.

The man who, even in mind, approves a deed endowed with dharma, he increases [his own merit] according to which has been given (yaṭheṣṭena) as the moon during the bright fortnight.

Between the one who himself practises dharma and the one who protects the dharma done by others, the protector is the better of the two. Here is what say the sages.

Those wishing a brilliant fame like the moon ray, those desiring the embrace of the beloved insignia of royalty, those good men do not steal what is given by others: they say that protection is indeed better than gift.

Sacrifice is destroyed by untruth (anr̥ta), religious austerity is deprived of doubt, the land thief goes to hell for twenty one generations.

As the growth of the moon increases day by day, so a land donation prospers harvest after harvest.

As a mother makes her son grow by her milk, O kings, so the earth by all its qualities will make its donor prosper.

This stanza appears with the following modifications here:

Just as when seeds are sown and scattered on the ground they grow, in the same way desires grow when land is given as a gift.

Just as a drop of oil fallen in water spread, o Śakra, in the same way a gift performed on earth grow in every field of merit.

A miserly man, whatever the sins he has committed, is purified by a gift of land, even measuring the size of a gocarman (literally a cow’s skin, here it is a unit of measurement).

[The donor] will sejourn in the world of Rudra during thousands of yugas, as long as the given land remains undivided and very propitious.

The land giver stays in heaven as many years as there are roots on a seed and hairs on a cow('s coat).

As long as the sun and moon exist, as long as the mountains and oceans exist, for that long, the best of kings should protect the village belonging to the sons and grandsons (of the donee).

Those who steal even a small portion of the earth belonging to the Brahmins, they spend even ten millions of kalpas united with the ancestors in the pit of excrement, .

The one who accepts (a gift) with reverence or the one who gives with reverence, both of them go to heaven, but if the reverse, they go to hell.

Kane 1941: 1274 attributes the number 19 to this stanza.

Manu said: "He will be born twelve times as an ass, eight times as a hog, seventy times as a dog".

It is the Lord of All Beings who, in order to preserve Brahmanic wealth, takes birth on earth as a Brahmin being born.

A man who objects to the vipra in a copper plate, would be sick, diminished without will, whose life expectancy is reduced, defeated by his enemies !

Hear the fruit of the sin of that man who seizes His property: it exceeds thousands of Brahmin-murders and cow-slaughters.

He who would would say “No, you give me, me” to one who says “Give me, give” i.e. to a Brahmin—that embodied being will not be able to say “Give” when he takes birth in another body.

Who indeed would act in breach of moral duty (dharma) for the sake of the body, which seems to be full of pain and malady, and which will decay today or tomorrow?

Men who take away the offerings for him, should be punished here by the king and in the other world by Yama; but those who protect them, may they go to the auspicious abode of Śiva.

Oh! Dharma! A (learned) man must render protection to the deeds of others. Indeed (there are) the feet acquired by (i.e., on which stands) great fame. The world was all created by Dhātr̥, still kings desirous of merits protect the earth.

The ancestors who reside in the Pitr̥loka and the gods who dwell in the Devaloka, fully satisfy the land-giver, O thou who art the best among born beings.

He will be a vile murderer of cattle, of spiritual instructors, and of Brahmans, who will venture to set aside this ordinance; enveloped by the five heinous sins and all minor sins such a wretch will drop to the nether regions.

This verse does not belong to Sircar's list. As it represents one of the oldest imprecative verse quoted in a copper plate, it seems important to include it in this list even if I found no other quotation of it.

The descendant of Kuru himself entreats future kings:―'As this charity is common (to all kings), it must be preserved (by you as well)!'

This verse does not belong to Sircar's list. Its content links it without doubt to the stanzas best_st0117 and best_st0118.

For those who protect bridges setu and repair broken ones, for those who have done this inn the past, it is known that the fruit of this act count twice.

This verse does not belong to Sircar's list. The use of the word setu links it without doubt to the stanzas best_st0117