Shloka 28
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
ब्राह्मणो हि महदभूत॑ क्षेत्रभूतं युधिष्ठिर । उप्यते तत्र यद् बीज॑ तद्धि पुण्यफलं महत्
brāhmaṇo hi mahad abhūt kṣetrabhūtaṃ yudhiṣṭhira | upyate tatra yad bījaṃ tad dhi puṇyaphalaṃ mahat ||
Nārada sprach: „O Yudhiṣṭhira, der Brāhmaṇa ist wahrlich ein großes Wesen — gleich einem heiligen Feld. Welche ‘Saat’ man in ein solches Feld auch ausbringt, sie trägt eine gewaltige Ernte an Verdienst. Darum bringen Gaben, Dienst und Verehrung, die einem würdigen Brāhmaṇa dargebracht werden, ethische und geistige Früchte von außergewöhnlicher Kraft hervor.“
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit depends not only on the act but also on the worthiness of the recipient: a virtuous Brāhmaṇa is compared to a fertile field, so gifts and respectful service offered there yield especially great puṇya.
Nārada instructs Yudhiṣṭhira using an agricultural metaphor: the Brāhmaṇa is the ‘field,’ and whatever is ‘sown’—charity, honor, service—returns as a large harvest of spiritual merit.