Adhyaya 210

Agni moves from defining dāna to a systematic account of Mahādāna, stressing the canonical sixteen “great gifts” beginning with Tulāpuruṣa and Hiraṇyagarbha. He lists emblematic donations—cosmic models (Brahmāṇḍa), wish-fulfilling symbols (Kalpavṛkṣa/Kalpalatā), vast transfers like go-sahasra, and crafted golden forms such as Kāmadhenu, horse, and chariots—culminating in ritual offerings like Viśvacakra and the seven-oceans model. The chapter then prescribes Meru-dāna as “mountain gifts” (grain, salt, jaggery, gold, sesame, cotton, ghee, silver, sugar), graded by exact measures (droṇa, bhāra, pala, tulā) and performed in a maṇḍapa and maṇḍala after deity-worship, with final donation to a qualified brāhmaṇa. Next come ten dhenū-gifts (guḍa-, ghṛta-, tila-, jala-, kṣīra-, madhu-dhenū, etc.), with construction rules (pots vs heaps), orientation (cow east-facing, feet northward), and detailed iconography of the guḍa-dhenū. Lakṣmī-centered mantras seal the rite, identifying the cow-form goddess with Svāhā/Svadhā and cosmic powers, after which the gift is formally presented. The chapter closes with promised merits: heavenly reward, uplift of lineage through the Kapilā cow, and the Vaitaraṇī cow-gift near death as an aid for passage at Yama’s gate, linking ritual precision to soteriological assurance.