Shloka 7
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
अन्नमूर्जस्करं लोके प्राणाश्षान्ने प्रतिष्ठिता: । अन्नेन धार्यते सर्व विश्व जगदिदं प्रभो
annam ūrjaskaraṁ loke prāṇāś cānne pratiṣṭhitāḥ | annena dhāryate sarvaṁ viśvaṁ jagad idaṁ prabho ||
Narada nói: “Lương thực là nguồn sinh lực trong đời. Hơi thở sự sống nương tựa vào lương thực; và nhờ lương thực mà toàn thể vũ trụ này—mọi loài động và bất động—được nâng đỡ, hỡi Chúa công.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food is presented as the fundamental support of life and society: it generates strength, sustains the vital breaths, and upholds the world. Ethically, it elevates the duty to produce, share, and give food (especially through hospitality and charity) as a central form of dharma.
Nārada is instructing his listener by emphasizing a universal principle: all beings depend on food. This statement functions as a doctrinal foundation for later guidance about righteous living—particularly the merit and necessity of feeding others and maintaining social welfare through sustenance.