Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 29, Shloka 28
Adhyaya 29 — Alarka’s Inquiry and Madalasa’s Teaching on Householder Dharma (Gārhasthya), Vaiśvadeva, and Atithi Hospitality
ब्राह्मणं प्राहुरतिथिं स पूज्यः शक्तितो बुधैः ।
न पृच्छेद् गोत्रचरणं स्वाध्यायञ्चापि पण्डितः ॥
brāhmaṇaṃ prāhur atithiṃ sa pūjyaḥ śaktito budhaiḥ / na pṛcched gotracaraṇaṃ svādhyāyaṃ cāpi paṇḍitaḥ
They call a brāhmaṇa an ‘atithi’; he should be honored by the wise according to one’s capacity. A learned person should not ask him about his gotra, his Vedic school (caraṇa), or even his svādhyāya (recitation/branch of study).
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FAQs
Hospitality must be unconditional and non-investigative: the guest is not to be screened for pedigree or credentials before being helped.
Ācāra/Dharma instruction; a normative social-ethical rule within the Purāṇic framework.
Refusing to ask gotra/caraṇa/svādhyāya curbs pride and factionalism; the guest is received as a bearer of sacred presence, not as a social category to be evaluated.