Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
अन्नदान-प्रशंसा (Praise of the Gift of Food) | Annadāna-Praśaṃsā
कृशाय कृतविद्याय वृत्तिक्षीणाय सीदते | अपहन्यात् क्षुधां यस्तु न तेन पुरुष: सम:
kṛśāya kṛtavidyāya vṛttikṣīṇāya sīdate | apahanyāt kṣudhāṃ yas tu na tena puruṣaḥ samaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “Para sa taong payat na payat, bagaman may pinag-aralan, ngunit humina ang kabuhayan at nalulunod sa dalamhati—ang sinumang mag-alis ng kanyang gutom, walang kapantay na taong banal sa kanya. Ang pinakamataas na gantimpala ay nasa pagtaguyod sa marunong at sa napariwara sa pamamagitan ng napapanahong pagkain at tulong.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Feeding and sustaining a distressed person—especially one who is learned yet impoverished—is presented as an unsurpassed act of merit; removing hunger is among the highest forms of dharmic charity.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises the ethical greatness of one who relieves hunger in a suffering, livelihood-deprived person, elevating practical compassion above other claims to virtue.