Shloka 14
Gopradāna-phalasaṃprāpti: Nāciketa’s Vision of Vaivasvata’s Realms (गोप्रदानफलसम्प्राप्तिः — नाचिकेतोपाख्यानम्)
देवानाममृतं हान्न॑ं नागानां च सुधा तथा । पितृणां च स्वधा प्रोक्ता पशूनां चापि वीरुध:,देवताओंका अन्न अमृत, नागोंका अन्न सुधा, पितरोंका अन्न स्वधा और पशुओंका अन्न तृण-लता आदि है
bhīṣma uvāca | devānām amṛtaṁ hānnam nāgānāṁ ca sudhā tathā | pitṝṇāṁ ca svadhā proktā paśūnāṁ cāpi vīrudhaḥ |
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ദേവന്മാരുടെ അന്നം അമൃതം; നാഗങ്ങളുടെ അന്നം സుధാ; പിതൃകളുടെ അന്നം ‘സ്വധാ’ എന്നു പ്രസിദ്ധം; മൃഗങ്ങളുടെ അന്നം പുല്ലും വള്ളികളും മുതലായവയാണ്।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is expressed through appropriateness: each class of beings has its proper sustenance and mode of nourishment—gods through amṛta, nāgas through sudhā, ancestors through svadhā offered in rites, and animals through vegetation—so one should honor cosmic order by giving what is fitting.
Bhīṣma, instructing on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, enumerates the designated ‘foods’ of different beings, linking ritual practice (especially offerings to the pitṛs) with a broader vision of ordered duties and proper support of life.