Shloka 37
Adhyaya 29 — Alarka’s Inquiry and Madalasa’s Teaching on Householder Dharma (Gārhasthya), Vaiśvadeva, and Atithi Hospitality
अदत्त्वा तु न भोक्तव्यं यथाविभवमात्मनः ।
पूजयित्वातिथीन्निष्टान् ज्ञातीन् बन्धूंस्तथार्थिनः ॥
adattvā tu na bhoktavyaṃ yathāvibhavam ātmanaḥ / pūjayitvātithīn niṣṭān jñātīn bandhūṃs tathārthinaḥ
One should not eat without first giving, according to one’s means. Having honored the guests who have arrived, as well as kinsmen, relatives, and those who seek aid, then one may eat.
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FAQs
Personal consumption is morally conditioned: the householder’s right to enjoy is preceded by duties to guests, family networks, and the vulnerable.
Dharma instruction; not within the five-fold cosmological-historical markers.
‘Not eating before giving’ is a practice of ego-thinning: it trains the self to become a steward of resources rather than an owner.