The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

D!tar [Sk. d!&r, n. ag. of dad!ti to give; cp. Gr. dw/twr & doth/r] a giver, a generous person Pgdp 50. --
ad!t! one who does not give, a miser Pv ii.82; otherwise as na d!t! (hoti) A ii.203; It 65.
D!tta
D!tta (nt.) [Sk. d!tra, to d!, Sk. d!ti, dyati to cut, divide, deal out; cp. Gr. date/omai, dai/omai & see d!na,
d!peti, d!yati] sickle, scythe Miln 33.
D!na
D!na (nt.) [Ved. d!na, d! as in dad!ti to give & in d!ti, dy!ti to deal out, thus: distribution (scil. of gifts);
cp. Gr. da/nos (present), Lat. damnum (E. damages); Gr. dw_ron, Lat. donum; also Ags. t"d (=E. tide,
portion, i. e. of time), & t"ma (=E. time). See further dad!ti, dayati, d!tta, d!peti. Defn at Vism 60: d!na'
vuccati avakha*.ana'] (a) giving, dealing out, gift; almsgiving, liberality, munificence; esp. a charitable
gift to a bhikkhu or to the community of bhikkhus, the Sangha (cp. deyyadhamma & yañña). As such it
constitutes a meritorious act (puñña') and heads the list of these, as enumerated in order, d!namaya
puñña', s"lamaya p., bh!van!maya p. viz. acts of merit consisting of munificence, good character &
meditation (D iii.218 e. g.; cp. c!ga, puñña, s"la). Thus in formula d!nâd"ni puññ!ni katv! J i.168; PvA 66,
105; cp. cpds. under ˚maya. -- (b) Special merit & importance is attached to the mah!d!na the great gift, i.
e. the great offering (of gifts to the Sangha), in character the buddhistic equivalent of the brahmanic
mah!yajña the chief sacrifice. On 16 Mah!d!nas see Wilson Hindu Caste 413; on 4 Beal. Chinese Texts 88.
-- A iv.246; J i.50, 74; v.383 (devasika' chasatasahassa -- paricc!ga' karonto mah!d!na' pavattesi "he
gave the great largesse, spending daily 600,000 pieces"); PvA 19, 22, 75, 127, etc. -- (c) Constituents,
qualities & characteristics of a d!na: 8 objects suitable for gifts form a standard set (also enumd as 10), viz.
anna p!na vattha y!na m!l! gandha -- vilepana seyy!vasatha pad"peyya (bread, water, clothes, vehicle,
garlands, scented ointment, conveniences for lying down & dwelling, lighting facility) A iv.239; cp. Pv
ii.49 & see ˚vatthu & deyyadhamma. Eight ways of giving alms at D iii.258= A iv.236, five ways, called
sappurisa -- d!na (& asapp˚) at A iii.171 sq.; eight sapp˚ at A iv.243. Five manners of almsgiving
metaphorically for s"las 1 -- 5 at A iv.246= DA i.306. Five characteristics of a beneficial gift at A iii.172,
viz. saddh!ya d!na' deti, sakkacca' d.d., k!lena (cp. k!lad!na A iii.41), anuggahitacitto, att!nañ ca parañ
ca anupahacca d.d. -- (d) Various passages showing practice & value of d!na: Vin i.236; D i.53 (+dama &
sa'yama; cp. It 15; PvA 276); ii.356 sq. (sakkacca' & a˚); A iv.392 sq. (id.); D iii.147 sq., 190 sq., 232; S
i.98 (d!na' d!tabba' yattha citta' pas"dati); A i.91=It 98 (!misa˚ and dhamma˚, material & spiritual gifts);
A i.161; iii.41 (d!ne !nisa's!); iv.60; 237 sq. (mahapphala), 392 sq. (˚ssa vip!ka); v.269 (pet!na'
upakappati); J i.8 (agga)a˚); ii.112 (dinna˚), iii.52 (id.); Sn 263, 713 (appa' d!na' sama*abr!hma*!na')
PvA 54 (!gantuka˚ gift for the newcomer); Sdhp 211 -- 213. -- ad!na withholding a gift, neglect of
liberality, stinginess Pv ii.945; Miln 279; PvA 25; cp. ˚s"la under cpds.: atid!na excessive almsgiving Pv
ii.945 (cp. PvA 129); Miln 277. -- agga [Sk. d!n!gara, cp. bhattagga, sal!kagga; see Trenckner, Notes p.
56] a house where alms or donations are given, a store -- house of gifts, fig. a source or giver of gifts, a
horn of plenty J vi.487; DhA i.152, 189; Miln 2; PvA 121, 124, 127, 141. A possible connection w.
agga=!gra is suggested by combn d!n!ni mah!d!n!ni aggaññ!ni A iv.246; -- âdhik!ra supervision or
charge of alms -- distributing. PvA 124 (cp. Pv ii.927); -- !nisa'sa praise of generosity PvA 9; cp. A iii.41;
-- upakara*a means or materials for a gift PvA 105; -- upapatti (read uppatti at D iii.258) an object suitable
for gifts, of which 8 or 10 are mentioned (see above c) A iv.239=D iii.258; -- kath! talk or conversation
about (the merit & demerit of) almsgiving, one of the anupubbi -- kath! Vin i.15, 18; -- dhamma the duty or
meritorious act of bestowing gifts of mercy (cp. deyyadhamma) PvA 9; -- pati "lord of alms," master in
liberality, a liberal donor (def. by Bdhgh as: ya' d!na' deti tassa pati hutv! deti na d!so na sah!yo DA
i.298) D i.137 (+saddho & d!yako, as one of the qualifications of a good king); A iii.39; iv.79 sq.
(+saddho); Sn 487; Pv i.114 (+amaccharin); J i.199; Miln 279 sq.; Sdhp 275, 303; -- puñña the religious
merit of almsgiving or liberality (see above a) PvA 73; -- phala the fruit of munificence (as accruing to the
donor) A iii.39; iv.79; Pv ii.83 (˚' hoti paramhi loke: is rewarded in the life to come, cp. It 19); PvA 8 (cp.
Pv i.1); -- maya consisting in giving alms or being liberal (see above a) D iii.218 (puññakiriya -- vatthu);
Vbh 135 (kusala -- cetan!), 325 (pañña); PvA 8 (puñña), 60 (id.), 9 (kusala -- kamma), 51, etc.; -- va&&a
alms J vi.333; -- vatthu that which constitutes a meritorious gift; almsgiving, beneficence, offering,
donation D iii.258= A iv.236; PvA 20 (=annap!n!dika dasavidha d!tabbavatthu PvA 7); -- veyy!va&ika