Shloka 8

Devanagari script

तथास्यातिथय: पूज्या हव्यकव्यवहा: सदा । वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाता: श्रोत्रिया वेदपारगा:,यदि द्वारपर अतिथिके रूपमें वेदके पारंगत विद्वान, स्नातक, श्रोत्रिय, हव्य (यज्ञान्न) और कव्य (श्राद्धान्र) भोजन करनेवाले, जितेन्द्रिय, क्रियानिष्ठ, स्वधर्मसे ही जीवन-निर्वाह करनेवाले और तपस्वी ब्राह्मण आ जायाँ तो सदा उनकी विधिवत्‌ पूजा करके उन्हें हव्य और कव्य समर्पित करने चाहिये। उनके सत्कारके लिये यह सब करनेका विधान है

Transliteration

tathāsyātithayaḥ pūjyā havyakavyavahāḥ sadā | vedavidyāvratasnātāḥ śrotriyā vedapāragāḥ ||

Translation

সেয়ে অতিথি সদায় পূজ্য—বিশেষকৈ হব্য আৰু কব্য গ্ৰহণৰ যোগ্য: বেদবিদ্যাত পাৰঙ্গত, ব্ৰতনিষ্ঠ, স্নাতক, শ্ৰোত্ৰিয় আৰু বেদপাৰগ ব্ৰাহ্মণ। এনে বিদ্বান, জিতেন্দ্ৰিয়, স্বধৰ্মজীৱী তপস্বী অতিথি দুৱাৰত আহিলে বিধিমতে তেওঁক পূজা কৰি হব্য-কব্য অৰ্পণ কৰা উচিত; এইয়াই অতিথি-সৎকাৰৰ বিধান।

Word by Word

तथाthus/likewise

स्यात्should be

अतिथयःguests

पूज्याःto be honored/worthy of worship

हव्यकव्यवहाःthose who partake of havya and kavya offerings

सदाalways

वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाताःversed in Veda and learning, observant of vows, and having completed the स्नान (graduation)

श्रोत्रियाःlearned Vedic Brahmins (śrotriyas)

वेदपारगाःhaving gone to the far shore of the Veda; fully learned in the Vedas

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

atithi (guest)

śrotriya (Vedic scholar)

havya

kavya

Veda

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Hospitality is a central duty: when a qualified, Veda-learned Brahmin guest arrives, one should honor him properly and offer what is ritually appropriate (havya for sacrificial context and kavya for ancestral rites). Respecting such guests is presented as a concrete practice that sustains dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Vyāsa lays down a rule about receiving guests. He specifies the kinds of Brahmin guests—Veda-trained, disciplined, śrotriya, and Veda-mastered—who should be especially honored and supported through proper offerings.