Shloka 28
Umā–Maheśvara-saṃvāda: Varṇa-bhraṃśa, Ācāra (Vṛtta), and Karmic Ascent/Decline
स्त्रीघ्नैगोघ्नै: कृतध्नैश्ष ब्रह्मघ्नैर्गुरुतल्पगै: । तुल्यदोषो भवत्येभिययस्यातिथिरनर्चित:
strīghnair goghnaḥ kṛtadhnaiś ca brahmaghnair gurutalpagaiḥ | tulyadoṣo bhavaty eṣa yasya atithir anarcitaḥ ||
Dharma said: “A man in whose house a guest is not honored incurs a sin equal to that of a woman-slayer, a cow-slayer, an ingrate, a slayer of a brāhmaṇa, and one who violates the teacher’s bed. The teaching underscores that neglecting hospitality is not a minor lapse but a grave breach of dharma, because the guest embodies a sacred claim upon one’s care and reverence.”
धर्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Failing to honor a guest (atithi) is treated as a serious violation of dharma, carrying guilt comparable to major sins; hospitality is presented as a sacred moral obligation, not mere social etiquette.
Dharma is instructing about righteous conduct by listing extreme transgressions and declaring that neglecting a guest’s reception places a person in the same category of grave wrongdoing, thereby emphasizing the sanctity of atithi-satkāra.