| dc.description.abstract |
Throughout its long history , the Brahmanical literary tradition has demonstrated a
deep concern with gifting and , thus , provides valuable data on this important institution
in pre -modern South Asia . Significantly , this long tradition of reflection on the gift
culminates in a class of texts called dānanibandhas , which start to appear in the early
twelfth century CE and continue to be composed in widespread areas of the subcontinent
until roughly the beginning of British rule . These dānanibandhas draw together ,
organize , and comment upon a vast array of earlier scriptures on dāna (Sanskrit :
gift /gifting ) and , therefore , represent a grand attempt to synthesize all earlier Brahmanical
thought on the subject . Consequently , they are invaluable sources for the understanding
of orthodox Brahmanical theories of the gift during much of South Asian history . Despite
their potential value to modern scholarship , however , none of these texts has been
translated into any Western language or even properly edited . Thus , the state of these
primary sources greatly hampers any scholarly attempts at their analysis . This dissertation constitutes a first and crucial step toward remedying this situation , for it comprises a
critical edition and annotated translation of the Dānakāṇḍa (“Book on Gifting” ) , the fifth
section of the encyclopedic Kṛtyakalpataru of Lakṣmīdhara and the earliest extant
dānanibandha . As a complement to this philological work , a more general study of
Brahmanical theories of the gift with special emphasis on the early dānanibandhas has
been included . |
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