Shloka 13
जापक–इक्ष्वाकु–सत्यविवादः
The Jāpaka, Ikṣvāku, and the Dispute on Truth and Merit
इस विषयमें ये श्लोक प्रसिद्ध हैं-- जिस गृहस्थके दरवाजेसे कोई अतिथि भिक्षा न पानेके कारण निराश होकर लौट जाता है, वह उस गृहस्थको अपना पाप दे उसका पुण्य लेकर चला जाता है ।। अपि चात्र यज्ञक्रियाभिददेवता: प्रीयन्ते । निवापेन पितरो विद्याभ्यासश्रवणधारणेन ऋषय: । अपत्योत्पादनेन प्रजापतिरिति,इसके सिवा गृहस्थाश्रममें रहकर यज्ञ करनेसे देवता, श्राद्ध-तर्पण करनेसे पितर, वेद- शास्त्रोंके श्रवण, अभ्यास और धारणसे ऋषि तथा संतानोत्पादनसे प्रजापति प्रसन्न होते हैं
bharadvāja uvāca | asmin viṣaye ime ślokāḥ prasiddhāḥ— yasya gṛhasthasya dvārāt kaścid atithiḥ bhikṣām alabhitvā nirāśaḥ pratinivartate, sa tasmai gṛhasthāya svaṃ pāpaṃ dattvā tasya puṇyaṃ gṛhītvā gacchati || api cātra yajñakriyābhiḥ devatāḥ prīyante | nivāpena pitaraḥ | vidyābhyāsa-śravaṇa-dhāraṇena ṛṣayaḥ | apatyotpādanena prajāpatiḥ iti |
Bharadvāja said: “On this matter, these verses are well known: if any guest leaves a householder’s door disappointed because he did not obtain alms, that guest departs after handing over his own sin to the householder and taking away the householder’s merit. Moreover, in the householder’s stage of life, the gods are pleased by sacrificial rites; the ancestors by offerings and oblations; the seers by the hearing, practice, and retention of sacred learning; and Prajāpati by the begetting of offspring.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder must not let a guest depart unserved; neglecting hospitality causes the householder to lose merit and incur the guest’s demerit. The verse also summarizes the householder’s key obligations: sacrifice for the gods, offerings for ancestors, study for the seers, and procreation for Prajāpati.
Bharadvāja is instructing on gṛhastha-dharma within the Śānti Parva’s ethical discourse, using a well-known maxim about the moral consequences of refusing alms to a guest and then listing how different sacred stakeholders (gods, ancestors, seers, Prajāpati) are satisfied through specific household duties.