Shloka 42
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
प्राणान् ददाति भूतानां तेजश्न भरतर्षभ । गृहमभ्यागतायाथ यो दद्यादन्नमर्थिने,भरतश्रेष्ठ) जो घरपर आये हुए याचकको अन्न देता है, वह सब प्राणियोंको प्राण और तेजका दान करता है
prāṇān dadāti bhūtānāṁ tejaś ca bharatarṣabha | gṛham abhyāgatāyātha yo dadyād annam arthine ||
Nārada berkata: “Wahai banteng di antara kaum Bharata, sesiapa yang memberi makanan kepada peminta yang berhajat dan datang ke rumahnya, maka dia seolah-olah menganugerahkan nafas kehidupan dan daya tejas kepada semua makhluk.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food-giving (anna-dāna), especially to a needy person who comes to one’s home, is praised as a supreme form of charity because it sustains life itself—symbolically ‘giving prāṇa and tejas’ to beings.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma and gifts, Nārada addresses a Bharata prince and extols hospitality: feeding an arriving petitioner is presented as an act with universal life-sustaining ethical power.