Adhyaya 211

This chapter serves as a closing colophon and transition into the Dana-mahātmya sequence: it concludes the unit on the “great gifts” (mahādāna) and readies the reader for a more detailed catalogue of charitable acts (nānā-dānas). The text preserves variant readings and alternate sub-titles (e.g., one linked with “Kṛṣṇā Vaitaraṇī”), pointing to scribal lineages and the circulation of dana material with ritual sub-classifications. In the Agneya method, mahādāna is not mere moral exhortation but a technical dharma-technology—named gift-forms, assumed eligibility, and promised fruits. Its placement reinforces the Purāṇa’s encyclopedic pedagogy: moving from high-level categories (mahādānas) to operational detail (nānā-dānas) while keeping the overarching aim—purification, benefit to ancestors through śrāddha, and the alignment of social generosity with soteriological progress.