अन्नम् बहु कुर्वीत तत् व्रतम् पृथिवी वै अन्नम् आकाशः अन्नादः पृथिव्याम् आकाशः प्रतिष्ठितः आकाशे पृथिवी प्रतिष्ठिता तत् एतत् अन्नम् अन्ने प्रतिष्ठितम् सः यः एतत् अन्नम् अन्ने प्रतिष्ठितम् वेद प्रतितिष्ठति अन्नवान् अन्नादः भवति महान् भवति प्रजया पशुभिः ब्रह्मवर्चसेन महान् कीर्त्या
annam bahu kurvīta tat vratam pṛthivī vai annam ākāśaḥ annādaḥ pṛthivyām ākāśaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ ākāśe pṛthivī pratiṣṭhitā tat etat annam anne pratiṣṭhitam saḥ yaḥ etat annam anne pratiṣṭhitam veda pratitiṣṭhati annavān annādaḥ bhavati mahān bhavati prajayā paśubhiḥ brahmavarcasena mahān kīrtyā
Let him make food abundant — that is the vow. The earth is food, space is the eater of food: in the earth space is established, in space the earth is established. Thus food is established in food. He who knows this food established in food is established: he becomes possessed of food, an eater of food; he becomes great in offspring, in cattle, in the radiance of Brahman, great in fame.
a34dd79c3d83 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:50:25 PM UTC
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The third vow is active: annaṁ bahu kurvīta — "let him make food abundant": not to revile and not to reject is not enough — multiply! Till, grow, cook, feed: the production of food is raised to a spiritual vow: the ploughman and the cook keep an obedience of the same order as the reciter of the Vedas. With this verse Vedic civilisation blessed agriculture and abundance: holiness lies not in scarcity but in bread multiplied and shared.
The contemplation reaches the utmost magnitudes: pṛthivī vā annam ākāśo 'nnādaḥ — "the earth is food, space is the eater": space itself "consumes" the earth (everything earthly gives itself into space — as sound, as light, as vapour), and the earth is established in space while space is established in the earth (every expanse is measured from solid ground). Even at this height, the same mutuality: there is nothing in the world that only eats or is only eaten.
The three vows form a ladder of deeds: the tongue (do not revile) — the will (do not reject) — the hands (multiply): reverence for matter must ripen into labour. The next and last anuvāka will carry the ladder to the door of the house: deny no one shelter.