Shloka 27
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: On the Superiority of Giving
Maitreya–Vyāsa Exemplum
शुभानां नाभिजानामि कृतानां कर्मणां फलम् | माता च पूजिता वृद्धा ब्राह्मणश्वार्चितो मया
śubhānāṃ nābhijānāmi kṛtānāṃ karmaṇāṃ phalam | mātā ca pūjitā vṛddhā brāhmaṇaś cārcito mayā ||
The insect said: “I have not directly perceived the result of the good deeds I once performed. Yet I did honor and serve my aged mother, and I also duly welcomed and worshipfully received a Brahmin guest. O Brahmin, by the power of that merit, I have been unable to let go of the memory of my former birth even to this day.”
कीट उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even seemingly simple acts of dharma—revering one’s aged mother and honoring a worthy guest (especially a Brahmin)—generate puṇya whose effects may not be immediately visible, yet can shape one’s destiny profoundly, even preserving awareness of past-life experience.
An insect speaks reflectively about its prior life: it cannot point to obvious worldly rewards from past good deeds, but recalls having served its elderly mother and having respectfully received a Brahmin guest; it attributes its continuing memory of the former birth to the power of that merit.