14 September 2015 QA - 3

Gurudev, what is the importance behind Anna-daan (donating food grains in charity)? Is there any special significance of doing Anna-daan on specially auspicious days such as Shivaratri, or Navratri?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, the very first layer of our body is the Annamaya Kosha (the gross or outermost layer of the body nourished and sustained by food). Food affects the prana (subtle life force) and our prana has an effect on our mind. The mind is the seat of knowledge and knowledge takes one to joy and bliss. This is the way of life. So food is responsible for our existence. That is why food is necessary for all living beings to nourish and protect the prana . It is the most basic source of sustenance. What will happen to you if you do not get any food? If you do not get any food to eat, then you will simply discard all the knowledge in the dustbin. What will be the value of all the education you have received without any food? It is of no use. Having food to eat gives value to all the other aspects of life.

Food is the basic foundation of life. This is why donating food is a noble deed that one can do. Even if you cannot do this every day, at least once every few days you should do so. You can donate on your birthday, or you can choose a day to donate food in the memory of your ancestors. This is why in our culture, we have specific days set aside especially for this. On such days, we donate food in the name of our ancestors; or during festival days we prepare good food and share it with everyone. This has been a regular part of all our customs.

In the Ashram, not only do you get good knowledge, you also get good food to eat. Isn’t it so?
Even when you go to a temple, you don’t just get to see the deity, you also get some prasadam (sacred offering) to eat before you leave. So this is the importance of Anna-daan. This has been in practice in India since many centuries.

It is said, “Anna-daanam param daanam vidhya-daanam tat param”. It means that imparting and giving knowledge to others is even higher than the act of donating food. But at least to start with, one can always begin with donating food grains from time to time.