Shloka 7
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
अन्नमूर्जस्करं लोके प्राणाश्षान्ने प्रतिष्ठिता: । अन्नेन धार्यते सर्व विश्व जगदिदं प्रभो
annam ūrjaskaraṁ loke prāṇāś cānne pratiṣṭhitāḥ | annena dhāryate sarvaṁ viśvaṁ jagad idaṁ prabho ||
Nārada dit : «La nourriture est ce qui engendre la vigueur dans le monde. Les souffles de vie reposent sur la nourriture, et par la nourriture cet univers tout entier—tout ce qui est mobile et immobile—est soutenu, ô Seigneur.»
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food is presented as the fundamental support of life and society: it generates strength, sustains the vital breaths, and upholds the world. Ethically, it elevates the duty to produce, share, and give food (especially through hospitality and charity) as a central form of dharma.
Nārada is instructing his listener by emphasizing a universal principle: all beings depend on food. This statement functions as a doctrinal foundation for later guidance about righteous living—particularly the merit and necessity of feeding others and maintaining social welfare through sustenance.