DIVINE INFORMATION 2-36 Matsya Purana Last part…29
Posted by: "DILIP KUMAR RAVINDRAN"[email protected] prdili Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:47 am (PDT) Donations There are different methods of donatingalms. One of the most sacred is known as tulapurusha. In this, a pair of scales is used.The person who is donating the alms ascends on one side of the scales and gold is placed on theother side until the scales are exactlybalanced. This is the amount of gold that has to be donated if punya is to be acquired. A secondsort of donation is known as hiranyagarbha.In this , a pot full of gold is donated. In a third form of donation a model of theuniverse (brahmanda) is fashioned out of gold and donated. This form ofdonation is therfore known as brahmanda. What of the fourth form of donation, known as kalpadapa? In this, a tree ismade out of gold and donated. The fifth form of donation is known as gosahasra and involves the donation of a thousand cows. The sixth form of donation is known askamadhenu. The object of donation inthis case is a cow andcalf, both made out of gold. My note- It istold a cow and calf drinking milk made out of silver is auspicious to keep inpooja room/ cash chest . Theseventh form of donation is similar and is known as hiranyashva. A horse made out of gold is donated. The eighth form of donation is called ashvaratha. A horse (ashva) and four chariots(ratha) have to be donated and both have to be made out of gold. Hemahastiratha is the ninth form of donation. The objects ordonation in this case are an elephantand a chariot made out of gold. The tenthform of donation is known as panchalngalaka.In this case, ten ploughs aredonated. Five of them have to be made of wood and the remaining five have to be made of gold. The elevenform of donation is dhara.In this case, a golden model of theearth is donated. Thetwelfth form of donation is known as vishvachakra. The object that is donated is again a model made out ofgold. The model is that ofthe universe in the shape of a wheel. Thethirteenth form of donation is mahakalapalaka. Ten creepers made out of god are donated. The fourteenth form of donation is saptasagara. Pits are made in the ground, therebeing seven of them. Each pit stands for one of the seven oceans. In the first pit is put salt,in the second milk, in the third clarified butter, in the fourth molasses, in the fifth curds, inthe sixth sugar and in the seventh holywater. An image of a god or goddess is then placed in each pit- Brahma in the first, Vishnu in the second,Shiva in the third, Surya in the fourth, Yama in the fifth. Lakshmi in the sixth and Parvati in the seventh. Theimages must be made out of gold. Thepits are then filed to the brim with jewels and the entire contents donated. The fifteenth form of donation is called ratnadhenu. In this case, a cow made out of gold is donated. The nose, theeyes, the brows and various other partsof the cow should be made out of jewels. The sixteen form of donation is called mahabhutaghata. A pot is made out of gold, filled with jewels and donated. The above differentforms of donation are superior to all other forms of donation, and bring undying punya. Epilogue Lomaharshanacompleted his recital of the Matsya Purana. This textis exceedingly sacred. A person who reads even one chapter of the text goes to heaven and all his sins areforgiven. The sages thanked Lomaharshana and departed. Hereends Matsya Purana . Posted to google groups on 8-12-2021 by R.Gopalakrishnan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/2080552933.1023688.1638918031572%40mail.yahoo.com.
