Shloka 22
गोप्रदान-माहात्म्ये गोलोक-प्रश्नः
Gopradāna-Māhātmya: Inquiry into Goloka
आपो नित्य प्रदेयास्ते पुण्यं होतदनुत्तमम् । प्रपाश्न॒ कार्या दानार्थ नित्यं ते द्विजसत्तम । भुक्तेडप्यन्न॑ प्रदेयं तु पानीयं वै विशेषत:
āpo nityaṃ pradeyās te puṇyaṃ hy etad anuttamam | prapāś ca kāryā dānārthaṃ nityaṃ te dvijasattama || bhukte 'py annaṃ pradeyaṃ tu pānīyaṃ vai viśeṣataḥ ||
Yama dit : «L’eau doit être donnée chaque jour ; c’est un mérite sans égal. Pour la charité, ô le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, établis aussi régulièrement une prapā, un point d’eau public. Même à celui qui a déjà mangé, il faut encore donner de la nourriture ; mais par-dessus tout, le don d’eau à boire est indispensable à tous.»
यम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Daily giving of drinking water—ideally by establishing a public water-station (prapā)—is praised as an unsurpassed meritorious act; generosity should extend even beyond immediate need, with water emphasized as universally necessary.
Yama instructs a Brahmin (addressed as dvijasattama) on practical dharma: regular charity through water-gifts and setting up a prapā, and the broader ethic of feeding others even if they have already eaten, highlighting water as the foremost gift.