Shloka 31
Adhyaya 26 — Madālasa Names Alarka and Reorients Him Toward Kshatriya Duty
सदाप्यायते सुभ्रु ! तद्वद्देवातिथोऽनपि ।
देवैर्मनुष्यैः पितृभिः प्रेतैर्भूतैः सगुह्यकैः ॥
sadāpyāyate subhru! tadvat devātitho 'n api / devair manuṣyaiḥ pitṛbhiḥ pretair bhūtaiḥ sa-guhyakaiḥ //
Ô toi au beau front, de même les dieux et aussi les hôtes sont sans cesse nourris—par les dieux, les hommes, les ancêtres, les pretas (défunts), les bhūtas et même les guhyakas.
FAQs
The verse expands dharma beyond humans: hospitality and offerings maintain a multi-realm reciprocity. The householder’s rites are portrayed as a cosmic economy sustaining visible and invisible communities.
Not a core pañcalakṣaṇa unit; it is dharma teaching within Anucarita, using cosmological categories as support.
‘Nourishment’ indicates prāṇic circulation across planes. Guests (atithi) also symbolize the divine arriving unannounced; serving them is serving the totality of beings (sarva-bhūta-hita).