Vamana Purana — Merit of the Vamana Purana, Shloka 9
The Merit of Hearing and Reciting the Vamana Purana (Phalaśruti)
रत्नस्य दानस्य च यत्फलं भवेद् यत्सूर्यस्य चेन्दोर्ग्रहणे च राहोः अन्नस्य दानेन फलं यथोक्तं बुभुक्षिते विप्रवरे च साग्निके
ratnasya dānasya ca yatphalaṃ bhaved yatsūryasya cendorgrahaṇe ca rāhoḥ annasya dānena phalaṃ yathoktaṃ bubhukṣite vipravare ca sāgnike
Whatever fruit arises from gifting jewels, and whatever (merit arises) at the time when Rāhu seizes the Sun and the Moon (i.e., during eclipses), that same fruit is obtained—so it is declared—by the gift of food to a hungry, excellent brāhmaṇa who maintains the sacred fire.
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FAQs
Purāṇic dharma frequently ranks gifts by immediate life-sustaining impact. Jewels symbolize wealth, but food directly preserves prāṇa; hence anna-dāna is praised as yielding equal or greater puṇya, especially when the recipient is genuinely hungry.
Eclipses are liminal times in Purāṇic cosmology when ritual acts are believed to multiply in potency. By equating anna-dāna with eclipse-merit, the text elevates everyday compassion to the level of rare, astrologically charged occasions.
The phrase ties charity to the Vedic sacrificial order: a sāgnika represents continuity of śrauta/smārta practice. The verse thus frames feeding as both humanitarian and as sustaining dharma through support of ritual custodians.