SN 1.43PTS (1st ed) SN 1.321 min read

Food

Annasutta

Gods and humans love to eat, so what kind of being does not like food?

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.43Linked Discourses 1.43
0.25. Ādittavagga5. On Fire

0.3AnnasuttaFood

1.1“Annamevābhinandanti,“Both gods and humans1.2ubhaye devamānusā;enjoy their food.¹1.3Atha ko nāma so yakkho,So what’s the name of the spirit²1.4yaṁ annaṁ nābhinandatī”ti.who doesn’t enjoy food?”
2.1“Ye naṁ dadanti saddhāya,“Those who give with faith2.2vippasannena cetasā;and a clear and confident heart,2.3Tameva annaṁ bhajati,partake of food2.4asmiṁ loke paramhi ca.in this world and the next.
3.1Tasmā vineyya maccheraṁ,So you should dispel stinginess,3.2dajjā dānaṁ malābhibhū;overcoming that stain, and give a gift.3.3Puññāni paralokasmiṁ,The good deeds of sentient beings3.4patiṭṭhā honti pāṇinan”ti.support them in the next world.”

Translator’s notes

Here the word for “food” is anna, which is a major theme of Vedic texts. From their creation the gods needed food (Aitareya Upaniṣad 1.2.1). The Divinity created two kinds of food for the gods, namely that offered in the fire, and that offered for beings not in the fire (hutaṁ ca prahutaṁ ca), or else the offerings at new and full moon (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.5.1–2). The point is that gods are dependent and hence not free. Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.2.1 says that all creatures on the earth are produced by food, and pass back into food, the eldest of creatures, while 3.6–10 honors food as the foundation of life.
↩ sn1.43:1.2
“Spirit” is yakkha. In early texts it sometimes means “mysterious manifestation of divinity”.
↩ sn1.43:1.3