Shloka 5

Gārhasthya-dharma: Vāsudeva–Pṛthivī-saṃvāda

Householder Duties and Daily Offerings

Devanagari script

पृथिव्युवाच ऋषय: पितरो देवा मनुष्याश्नैव माधव । इज्याश्वैवार्चनीयाश्व॒ यथा चैव निबोध मे

Transliteration

pṛthivy uvāca—ṛṣayaḥ pitaro devā manuṣyāś caiva mādhava | ijyāś caivārcanīyāś ca yathā caiva nibodha me ||

Translation

Die Erde sprach: „O Mādhava! Die Weisen, die Ahnen, die Götter und auch die menschlichen Gäste—sie alle sind zu ehren. Ihnen gebühren Verehrung und gebührender Respekt. Höre nun von mir, wie dies rechtens zu tun ist.“

Word by Word

• {'pṛthivī uvāca': '‘Earth said’ (speaker formula)', 'ṛṣayaḥ': 'sages

• Vedic rishis', 'pitaraḥ': 'ancestors

• the Pitṛs who receive śrāddha offerings', 'devāḥ': 'gods

• deities worthy of daily worship', 'manuṣyāḥ': 'human beings

• here especially guests/atithis and those to be served', 'mādhava': 'Mādhava

• an epithet of Kṛṣṇa (also ‘descendant of Madhu’)', 'ijyāḥ': 'those to be worshipped/propitiated through sacrifice and offerings (yajña, homa, śrāddha)', 'arcanīyāḥ': 'those to be honored with reverence, hospitality, and respectful service', 'yathā': 'how

• according to proper rule', 'nibodha': 'understand

• learn', 'me': 'from me

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Pṛthivī (Earth)
• Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Ṛṣis
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Devas
• Manuṣyas (humans/guests)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A householder’s dharma includes regular reverence and service to four key recipients—devas, pitṛs, ṛṣis, and human guests—through worship (ijyā) and respectful honoring (arcana), done in the proper prescribed manner.

What is happening in the narrative?

Pṛthivī (Earth), addressing Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa), introduces an instruction on how one should properly perform worship and hospitality toward sages, ancestors, gods, and human guests, setting up a practical exposition of righteous conduct.