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 said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, the Brāhmaṇa is indeed a great being—like a sacred field. Whatever ‘seed’ is sown in such a field bears a vast harvest of merit. Therefore, acts of giving, service, and reverence offered to a worthy Brāhmaṇa yield exceptionally powerful ethical and spiritual results.”
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.