Shloka 5
Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
अरावप्युचितं कार्यमातिथ्यं गृहमागते । छेत्तुमप्यागते छायां नोपसंहरते द्रुम:
arāv apy ucitaṁ kāryam ātithyaṁ gṛham āgate | chettum apy āgate chāyāṁ nopasaṁharate drumaḥ ||
“यदि शत्रु भी घर पर आ जाए, तो भी उसका उचित आतिथ्य करना चाहिए। जो काटने के लिए आया हो, उसके ऊपर से भी वृक्ष अपनी छाया नहीं हटाता।”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Maintain atithi-dharma (the duty of hospitality) even toward an enemy who arrives at one’s home; true dharma is steady and does not collapse under fear or anger, just as a tree continues to give shade even to the one who would cut it.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on righteous conduct in the Śānti Parva, he uses a vivid analogy: a tree does not retract its shade from a would-be cutter. This illustrates how a virtuous householder should uphold courtesy and protection for a guest—even if that guest is hostile.