Shloka 70
गृहस्थस्य सदाचारः: शौच, तर্পण, वैश्वदेव, अतिथिधर्म, भोजन-विधि, संध्योपासन, ऋतु-धर्मः
तस्माद् अतिथिपूजायां यतेत सततं नरः स केवलम् अघं भुङ्क्ते यो भुङ्क्ते त्व् अतिथिं विना
tasmād atithipūjāyāṃ yateta satataṃ naraḥ sa kevalam aghaṃ bhuṅkte yo bhuṅkte tv atithiṃ vinā
لذلك ينبغي للإنسان أن يداوم على إكرام الضيف وخدمته؛ فإن من يأكل مُهمِلًا الضيف إنما يأكل الإثم وحده حقًّا.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
FAQs
This verse presents hospitality as a core dharma: eating without first serving the guest is treated as accruing sin, showing that personal consumption must be subordinated to social and moral duty.
Parāśara states that the act of eating while ignoring an atithi is not neutral—it becomes spiritually harmful, as the meal is figuratively transformed into ‘only sin’ due to the breach of dharma.
Though Vishnu is not named in the verse, the teaching assumes a Vishnu-centered cosmos where dharma is the law upheld by the Supreme; everyday ethics like hospitality participate in that divine order.