Shloka 29
Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti
Chapter 82
शाकैर्मूलै: फलैर्वापि येन वर्तयते स्वयम् । तद् वै दद्याद् ब्राह्मणाय श्रद्धावाननसूयक:,मनुष्य साग, फल तथा मूल जिसके द्वारा स्वयं प्राणयात्राका निर्वाह करता है, वही श्रद्धाभावसे दूसरोंके दोष न देखते हुए ब्राह्मणको दान करे
śākair mūlaiḥ phalair vāpi yena vartayate svayam | tad vai dadyād brāhmaṇāya śraddhāvān anasūyakaḥ ||
Whatever a man sustains his own life with—be it leafy greens, roots, or fruits—let him, with faith and without fault-finding, give that very food as alms to a brāhmaṇa.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should practice charity from one’s own simple means: whatever sustains one’s life—greens, roots, or fruits—should be shared with a Brāhmaṇa, offered with faith and without a habit of criticizing or looking for others’ faults.
In this instruction, the speaker lays down a rule of conduct for forest or austere living: even minimal sustenance is not exempt from generosity, and the inner attitude—faith and non-censoriousness—is presented as essential to the merit of the gift.