I shall, O sinless one, describe to you gifts beginning with that of drink. The merit that a man wins by making gifts of food and of drink is such that the like of it, I think, is incapable of being acquired by any other gift. There is no gift, superior to that of either food or drink. It is from food that all living creatures are able to exist.
पानीयदानात् प्रभृति सर्वं वक्ष्यामि तेऽनघ। यदन्नं यच्च पानीयं सम्प्रदायाश्नुते नरः॥ न तस्मात् परमं दानं किंचिदस्तीति मे मनः। अन्नात् प्राणभृतस्तात प्रवर्तन्ते हि सर्वशः॥