Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 12
Sāma (Sāntva) and Dāna: The Brāhmaṇa’s Conciliatory Release from a Rākṣasa
अदन्नविद्वान् हन्त्यन्नमद्यमानं च हन्ति तम् । तं चान्न॑ पाति यश्चान्नं स हन्ता हन्यतेडबुध:
adann avidvān hanty annam adyamānaṃ ca hanti tam | taṃ cānnaṃ pāti yaś cānnaṃ sa hantā hanyate 'budhaḥ ||
弥勒耶说道：“愚昧而无辨识之人，吃了食物却毁坏了那食物——也就是使施者不得其果；而那食物仿佛又反过来毁灭他。唯有能护持食物者——以自身为堪受之器，并守护施者之功德——便为食物所护。那使布施之果归于虚无的愚人，终将自取其殃。”
मैत्रेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Receiving food or charity without worthiness or gratitude is ethically destructive: it wastes the donor’s merit and harms the receiver. A worthy recipient ‘protects’ the gift by honoring it and enabling its intended spiritual fruit, and thus is himself protected.
Maitreya delivers a moral instruction within Anuśāsana Parva’s teachings on dharma, explaining the consequences of unworthy consumption of given food and praising the worthy recipient who preserves the giver’s merit.