Shloka 16
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
कृत्वातिपातकं कर्म यो दद्यादन्नमर्थिने | ब्राह्मणाय विशेषेण न स पापेन मुहाते,जो महान् पाप करके भी याचक मनुष्यको, उसमें भी विशेषत: ब्राह्मणको अन्न देता है, वह अपने पापके कारण मोहमें नहीं पड़ता है
kṛtvātipātakaṃ karma yo dadyād annam arthine | brāhmaṇāya viśeṣeṇa na sa pāpena muhyate ||
Nārada sprach: Selbst wenn jemand eine schwerste Sünde begangen hat, so fällt er doch nicht in Verblendung wegen dieser Sünde, wenn er einem Bittenden Speise gibt—besonders einem Brāhmaṇa.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that anna-dāna—feeding the needy, and especially offering food to a Brahmin—has strong purifying and stabilizing power: it prevents the sinner from sinking into further delusion and moral confusion, pointing to charity as a practical path toward restoration of dharma.
Nārada is instructing on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva’s teachings about gifts and conduct. Here he emphasizes the exceptional merit of giving food to a supplicant, presenting it as a remedy that counters the inner darkness (moha) that follows even grave wrongdoing.