Shloka 25
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
अन्न प्राणा नराणां हि सर्वमन्ने प्रतेष्ठितम् । अन्नदः पशुमान् पुत्री धनवान् भोगवानपि
nārada uvāca | annaṃ prāṇā narāṇāṃ hi sarvam anne pratiṣṭhitam | annadaḥ paśumān putrī dhanavān bhogavān api, nareśvara |
ನಾರದನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಓ ನರೇಶ್ವರ! ಅನ್ನವೇ ಮಾನವರ ಪ್ರಾಣ; ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಅನ್ನದಲ್ಲೇ ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅನ್ನದಾನ ಮಾಡುವವನು ಪಶುಸಂಪತ್ತು, ಪುತ್ರರು, ಧನ ಮತ್ತು ಭೋಗಗಳನ್ನೂ ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಅನ್ನದಾನಿ ‘ಪ್ರಾಣದಾತ’ ಹಾಗೂ ‘ಸರ್ವದಾತ’ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತಾನೆ.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food sustains life and underlies all human activity; therefore, donating food (annadāna) is among the highest forms of charity, equated with giving life itself and bringing broad worldly and moral rewards.
Nārada addresses a king and instructs him on the ethical greatness of giving food, explaining that since all beings depend on food, the donor of food is honored as a life-giver and gains prosperity and lineage.