Chapter 67

“Yudhishthira said, ‘I have heard, O sire, of the merits of the differentkinds of gift upon which thou hast discoursed to me. I understand, OBharata, that the gift of food is especially laudable and superior. Whathowever, are the great merits of making gifts of drink. I desire to hearof this in detail, O grandsire!’

“Bhishma said, ‘I shall, O chief of Bharata’s race, discourse to theeupon this subject. Listen to me, O thou of unbaffled prowess, as I speakto thee. I shall, O sinless one, discourse unto thee of gifts beginningwith that of drink. The merit that a man acquires by making gifts of foodand drink is such that the like of it, I think, is incapable of beingacquired through any other gift. There is no gift, therefore, that issuperior to that of either food or drink. It is no food that all livingcreatures are able to exist. For this reason, food is regarded as a verysuperior object in all the worlds. From food the strength and energy ofliving creatures constantly increases. Hence, the lord of all creatureshas himself said that the gift of food is a very superior gift. Thou hastheard, O son of Kunti, what the auspicious words are of Savitri herself(on the subject of the gift of food). Thou knowest for what reason thosewords were said, what those words were, and how they were said in courseof the sacred Mantras, O thou of great intelligence. A man, by making agift of food, really makes a gift of life itself. There is no gift inthis world that is superior to the gift of life. Thou art notunacquainted with this saying of Lomasa, O thou of mighty arms! The endthat was attained in former days by king Sivi in consequence of hishaving granted life to the pigeon is acquired by him, O monarch, whomakes a gift of food unto a Brahmana. Hence, it has been heard by us thatthey that give life attain to very superior regions of felicity in afterlife. Food, O best of the Kurus, may or may not be superior to drink.Nothing can exist without the aid of what springs from water. The verylord of all the planets, viz., the illustrious Soma, has sprung fromwater. Amrita and Sudha and Swadha and milk as also every kind of food,the deciduous herbs, O monarch, and creepers (medicinal and of othervirtues), spring from water. From these, O king, the life-breath of allliving creatures flows. The deities have nectar for their food. The Nagashave Sudha. The Pitris have Swadha for theirs. The animals have herbs andplants for their food. The wise have said that rice, etc., constitute thefood of human beings. All these, O chief of men, spring from water.Hence, there is nothing superior to the gift of water or drink. If aperson wishes to secure prosperity for himself, he should always makegifts of drink. The gift of water is regarded as very praiseworthy. Itleads to great fame and bestows long life on the giver. The giver ofwater, O son of Kunti, always stays over the heads of his enemies. Such aperson obtains the fruition of all his wishes and earns everlasting fame.The giver, O chief of men, becomes cleansed of every sin and obtainsunending felicity hereafter as he proceeds to heaven, O thou of greatsplendour. Mann himself has said that such a person earns regions ofinexhaustible bliss in the other world.'”