It may be difficult to overstate the importance and religious significance of gift-giving practices in Hinduism. Extolled in early vedic “Hymns to Giving” (Dānastutis), the gift develops in the course of Indian history into a central religious category in brahmanical discourse, and is discussed prolifically in the epic, puranic and dharmashastric sources. Gifts are also recorded in the epigraphical record where we learn about t…