"'Yudhishthira said, "When a king becomes desirous of making gifts in this
world, what, indeed, are those gifts which he should make, O best of the
Bharatas, unto such Brahmanas as are possessed of superior
accomplishments? What gift is that by which the Brahmanas become
immediately gratified? What fruits do they bestow in return? O thou of
mighty arms, tell me what is the high reward attainable through the merit
arising from gifts. What gifts, O king, are productive of rewards both
here and hereafter? I desire to hear all this from thee. Do thou
discourse to me on all this in detail."
"'Bhishma said, "These very questions were on a former occasion put by me
to Narada of celestial appearance. Hear me as I recite to thee what that
celestial sage told me in reply.
"'"Narada said, 'The deities and all the Rishis applaud food. The course of
the world and the intellectual faculties have all been established on
food. There has never been, nor will be any gift that is equal to the
gifts of food. Hence, men always desire particularly to make gifts of
food. In this world, food is the cause of energy and strength. The
life-breaths are established on food. It is food that upholds the wide
universe, O puissant one. All classes of men, householders and mendicants
and ascetics, exist, depending upon food. The life-breaths depend upon
food. There is no doubt in this. Afflicting (if need be) one's relatives,
one that is desirous of one's own prosperity, should make gifts of food
unto a high-souled Brahmana or a person of the mendicant order. That man
who makes a gift of food unto an accomplished Brahmana who solicits the
same, secures for himself in the world to come wealth of great value. The
householder who is desirous of his own prosperity should receive with
reverence a deserving old man that is spent with toil while proceeding on
his way far from home, when such a man honours the householder's abode
with his presence. That man who, casting off wrath that overleaps every
bound and becoming righteous in disposition and freed from malice, makes
gifts of food, is sure to attain to happiness, O king, both here and
hereafter. The householder should never disregard the man that comes to
his abode, nor should he insult him by sending him away. A gift of food
made unto even a Chandala or a dog is never lost. That man who makes a
gift of clean food unto a person on the way who is toil-worn and unknown
to the giver, is sure to acquire great merit. The man who gratifies with
gifts of food the Pitris, the deities, the Rishis, the Brahmanas, and
guests arrived at his abode, acquires merit whose measure is very large.
That person who having committed even a heinous sin makes a gift of food
unto one that solicits, or unto a Brahmana, is never stupefied by that
heinous sin. A gift of food made unto a Brahmana becomes inexhaustible.
One made to a Sudra becomes productive of great merit. Even this is the
difference between the merits that attach to gifts of food made unto
Brahmanas and Sudras. Solicited by a Brahmana, one should not enquire
about his race or conduct or Vedic lore. Asked for food, one should give
food to him that asks. There is no doubt in this, O king, that he who
makes gifts of food obtains both here and hereafter many trees yielding
food and every other object of desire. Like tillers expecting auspicious
showers of rain, the Pitris always expect that their sons and grandsons
would make offerings unto them of food (in Sraddhas). The Brahmana is a
great being. When he comes into one's abode and solicits, saying, "Give
me," the owner of the abode, whether influenced or not by the desire of
acquiring merit, is sure to win great merit by listening to that
solicitation. The Brahmana is the guest of all creatures in the universe.
He is entitled to the first portion of every food. That house increases
in prosperity to which the Brahmanas repair from desire of soliciting
alms and from which they return honoured in consequence of their desires
being fulfilled. The owner of such a house takes birth in his next life
in a family, O Bharata, that can command all the comforts and luxuries of
life. A man, by making gifts of food in this world, is sure to attain to
an excellent place hereafter. He who makes gifts of sweetmeat and all
food that is sweet, attains to a residence in heaven where he is honoured
by all the deities and other denizens. Food constitutes the life-breath
of men. Everything is established upon food. He who makes gifts of food
obtains many animals (as his wealth), many children, considerable wealth
(in other shape), and a command in abundance of all articles of comfort
and luxurious enjoyment. The giver of food is said to be the giver of
life. Indeed, he is said to be the giver of everything. Hence, O king,
such a man acquires both strength and beauty of form in this world. If
food be given duly unto a Brahmana arrived at the giver's house as a
guest, the giver attains to great happiness, and is adored by the very
deities. The Brahmana, O Yudhishthira, is a great being. He is also a
fertile field. Whatever seed is sown on that field produces an abundant
crop of merit. A gift of food is visibly and immediately productive of
the happiness of both the giver and the receiver. All other gifts produce
fruits that are unseen. Food is the origin of all creatures. From food,
comes happiness and delight. O Bharata, know that religion and wealth
both flow from food. The cure of disease or health also flows from food.
In a former Kalpa, the Lord of all creatures said that food is Amrita or
the source of immortality. Food is Earth, food is Heaven, food is the
Firmament. Everything is established on food. In the absence of food, the
five elements that constitute the physical organism cease to exist in a
state of union. From absence of food the strength of even the strongest
man is seen to fail. Invitations and marriages and sacrifices all cease
in the absence of food. The very Vedas disappear when food there is none.
Whatever mobile and immobile creatures exist in the universe are
dependent on food. Religion and wealth, in the three worlds, are all
dependent on food. Hence the wise should make gifts of food. The
strength, energy, fame and achievements of the man who makes gifts of
food, constantly increase in the three worlds, O king. The lord of the
life-breaths, viz., the deity of wind, places above the clouds (the water
sucked up by the Sun). The water thus borne to the clouds is caused by
Sakra to be poured upon the earth, O Bharata. The Sun, by means of his
rays, sucks up the moisture of the earth. The deity of wind causes the
moisture to fall down from the Sun.[333] When the water falls down from
the clouds upon the Earth, the goddess Earth becomes moist, O Bharata.
Then do people sow diverse kinds of crops upon whose outturn the universe
of creatures depends. It is in the food thus produced that the flesh,
fat, bones and vital seed of all beings have their origin. From the vital
seed thus originated, O king, spring diverse kinds of living creatures.
Agni and Soma, the two agents living within the body, create and maintain
the vital seed. Thus from food, the Sun and the deity of wind and the
vital seed spring and act. All these are said to constitute one element
or quantity, and it is from these that all creatures spring. That man who
gives food unto one who comes into his house and solicits it, is said, O
chief of the Bharatas, to contribute both life and energy unto living
creatures.'"
"'Bhishma continued, "Thus addressed by Narada, O king, I have always made
gifts of food. Do thou also, therefore, freed from malice and with a
cheerful heart, make gifts of food. By making gifts of food, O king, unto
deserving Brahmanas with due rites, thou mayst be sure, O puissant one,
of attaining to Heaven. Hear me, O monarch, as I tell thee what the
regions are that are reserved for those that make gifts of food. The
mansions of those high-souled persons shine with resplendence in the
regions of Heaven. Bright as the stars in the firmament, and supported
upon many columns, white as the disc of the moon, and adorned with many
tinkling bells, and rosy like the newly-risen sun, those palatial abodes
are either fixed or movable. Those mansions are filled with hundreds upon
hundreds of things and animals that live on land and as many things and
animals living in water. Some of them are endued with the effulgence of
lapis lazuli and some are possessed of the resplendence of the sun. Some
of them are made of silver and some of gold. Within those mansions are
many trees capable of crowning with fruition every desire of the inmates.
Many tanks and roads and halls and wells and lakes occur all around.
Thousands of conveyances with horses and other animals harnessed thereto
and with wheels whose clatter is always loud, may be seen there.
Mountains of food and all enjoyable articles and heaps of cloths and
ornaments are also to be seen there. Numerous rivers that run milk, and
hills of rice and other edibles, may also be seen there. Indeed, many
palatial residences looking like white clouds, with many beds of golden
splendour, occur in those regions, All these are obtained by those men
that make gifts of food in this world. Do thou, therefore, become a giver
of food. Verily, these are the regions that are reserved for those
high-souled and righteous persons that make gifts of food in this world.
For these reasons, men should always make gifts of food in this world."'"