अन्न-दान सम्बन्धी विधान

Yudhishthira said I have heard your discourse about the ordinances for the gift of food. Do you describe to me now about the conjunctions of the planets and the stars in relation to the subject of making gifts.

Bhishma said Regarding it is recited this ancient discourse between Devaki and Narada, that foremost of Rishis.

Once on a time when Narada of godlike features and knowing every duty arrived at Dwaraka, Devaki asked him this question.

The celestial Rishi Narada replied to her question in the following words. Do you hear as I recite them.

Narada said By pleasing, O blessed lady, worthy Brahmanas with pudding mixed with ghee, under the constellation Krittika, one acquires regions of great happiness.

Under the constellation Rohini, one should, for freeing himself from the debt he owes to the Brahmanas, make gifts to them of many handfuls of venison along with rice and clarified butter and milk, and other kinds of edibles and drinks.

One giving away a cow with a calf under the constellation called Somadevata (or Mrigashiras), proceeds from this human region to a region in Heaven of great felicity.

One undergoing a fast and giving away Krishara mixed with sesame, gets over all difficulties in the next world, including those mountains with rocks sharp as razors.

By making gifts, O beautiful lady, of cakes and other food under the constellation Punarvasu, one gets personal beauty and great fame and takes birth in his next life in a family in which there is profuse food.

Making a gift of wrought or unwrought gold, under the constellation Pushya, one shines like the Moon himself in regions of surrounding darkness.

He who makes a gift, gift, under under the constellation Ashlesha, of silver or a bull, becomes freed from every fear and acquires riches and prosperity.

By making a gift, under the constellation Megha, of earthen dishes filled with sesame, one gets children and animals in this world and acquires happiness in the next.

By making gifts, while fasting, to Brahmanas, under the constellation called PurvaPhalguni, of food mixed with Phanita, the reward is great prosperity both here and hereafter.

By making a gift, under the constellation called UttaraPhalguni, of clarified butter and milk with rice called Shashthika, one wins great honours in Heaven.

Whatever gifts are made by men under the constellation of Uttara-Phalguni yield great merit, which, again, becomes unending. This is very certain.

Observing a fast, the person who makes, under the constell.tion Hasta, a gift of a car with four elephants, acquires regions of great happiness that are capable of granting the fruition of every wish.

By making a gift, under the constellation Chitra, of a bull and of good perfumes, one sports in bliss in regions of Apsaras like the deities sporting in the garden of Nandana.

By making gifts of riches under the constellation Svati, one acquires such excellent regions as one desires and wins, besides great fame.

By making gifts, under the constellation Vishakha, of a bull, and a cow giving profuse milk, a cart full of paddy, with a Prasanga for covering the same, and also cloths for wear, a person pleases the departed manes and the deities and acquires external merit in the other world. Such a person never meets with any calamity and certainly reaches Heaven.

By making gifts the Brahmanas of whatever articles they want, one acquires such means of subsistence as he wishes, and becomes rescued from Hell and every calamity that befall sinners after death. This is the certain conclusion of the scriptures.

By making gifts, under the constellation Anuradha, of embroidered cloth and other dresses and of food, observing a fast all the while, one becomes honoured in Heaven for a hundred cycles.

By making a gift under the constellation Jyeshtha, of the potherb called Kalashaka with the roots, one acquires great prosperity as also such an end as is desirable.

By making to Brahmanas a gift under the constellation Mula, of fruits and roots, with a controlled soul, one pleases the departed manes and attains to a desirable end.

By making, under the constellation Purvashadha, a gift, to a Brahmana knowing the Vedas and of good family and conduct, of cups filled with curds, while observing a fast, one is born in his next life in a family having abundant kine. One secures the fruition of every desire, by making gifts, under the constellation Uttarashadha, of jugs full of barleywater, with clarified butter and juice of sugarcane in abundance.

By making a gift, under the conjunction called Abhijit, of milk with loney and ghee unto men of wisdom, a righteous person attains to Heaven and becomes an object of adoration and honour there.

By making, under the conjunction Shravana, a gift of blankets or other cloth of thick texture, one passes freely through every region of happiness, riding on a white car of pure resplendence.

By making with a controlled soul under the constellation Dhanishtha a gift of a car with bulls yoked thereto, or masses of cloths and riches, one at once acquires Heaven in his next life.

By making gifts, under the constellation Shatabhisha, of perfumes with Aquilaria Agallocha and sandal wood, one acquires in the next world the companionship of Apsaras as also eternal perfumes of various sorts.

By making gifts, under the constellation Purva Bhadrapada, of Rajamasha, one acquires great happiness in next life and comes by a profuse supply of every kind of food and fruits.

One who makes, under the constellation Uttara, a gift of mutton, pleases the departed manes by such an act and acquires unending merit in the next world.

If one makes a gift, under the constellation Revati, of a cow with a vessel of white copper for milking her, the cow so given away approaches him in the next world, ready to grant the fruition of every desire.

By making a gift, under the constellation Ashvini, of a car with horses yoked thereto, one is born in his next life in a family possessing abundant elephants and horses and cars and becomes gifted with great energy.

By making, under the constellation Bharani, a gift to the Brahmanas of kine and. sesame, one attains in his next life great fame and abundant kine.

Bhishma said Thus did Narada describe to Devaki the subject of what gifts should be made under what constellations. Devaki herself, having heard this account related it in her turn to her daughters-in-law.