Shloka 54
गृहस्थस्य सदाचारः: शौच, तर্পण, वैश्वदेव, अतिथिधर्म, भोजन-विधि, संध्योपासन, ऋतु-धर्मः
भूतानि सर्वाणि तथान्नम् एतद् अहं च विष्णुर् न यतो ऽन्यद् अस्ति तस्माद् अहं भूतनिकायभूतम् अन्नं प्रयच्छामि भवाय तेषाम्
bhūtāni sarvāṇi tathānnam etad ahaṃ ca viṣṇur na yato 'nyad asti tasmād ahaṃ bhūtanikāyabhūtam annaṃ prayacchāmi bhavāya teṣām
அனைத்து உயிர்களும், இந்த அன்னமும்—நானும்—விஷ்ணுவே; அவரைத் தவிர வேறொன்றும் இல்லை. ஆகவே நான் உயிர்களின் தொகுதியாகவே இருந்து, அவர்களின் நிலைபெறுதலும் நலனும் கருதி அன்னம் அளிக்கிறேன்.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
FAQs
Food is presented as a divine mode of preservation: the same Supreme (Viṣṇu) becomes nourishment and grants it so beings can continue to exist.
Parāśara frames beings and their sustenance as not separate from Viṣṇu—nothing exists independently—so the Lord is both immanent in the world and the giver who sustains it.
Viṣṇu is affirmed as the Supreme Reality and sustaining power: the cosmos lives by His presence, and preservation operates through His own manifestation as nourishment.