Shloka 8

कामबन्धन-निवृत्ति तथा शान्तिलक्षण-उपदेशः | Release from Desire-Bondage and the Marks of Peace

Devanagari script

तथास्यातिथय: पूज्या हव्यकव्यवहा: सदा । वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाता: श्रोत्रिया वेदपारगा:

Transliteration

tathāsyātithayaḥ pūjyā havyakavyavahāḥ sadā | vedavidyāvratasnātāḥ śrotriyā vedapāragāḥ ||

Translation

अतः अतिथि सदा पूज्य हैं—विशेषतः वे जो हव्य और कव्य के अधिकारी हों: वेदविद्या में निपुण, व्रत-निष्ठ, स्नातक, श्रोत्रिय और वेदपारंगत ब्राह्मण। ऐसे विद्वान, जितेन्द्रिय, स्वधर्मजीवी तपस्वी अतिथि द्वार पर आए तो विधिपूर्वक उनका पूजन कर हव्य और कव्य उन्हें समर्पित करना चाहिए; यही सत्कार का विधान है।

Word by Word

• तथा: thus/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• स्यात्: should be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (भू)
• Form: Vidhi-linga, optative (potential), 3, singular, Parasmaipada

• अतिथयः: guests
• अतिथयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अतिथि
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• पूज्याः: to be honored/worthy of worship
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूज्य
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• हव्यकव्यवहाः: those who partake of havya and kavya offerings
• Type: Noun
• Root: हव्यकव्यवह
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• सदा: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

• वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाताः: versed in Veda and learning, observant of vows, and having completed the स्नान (graduation)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेदविद्याव्रतस्नात
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• श्रोत्रियाः: learned Vedic Brahmins (śrotriyas)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रोत्रिय
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• वेदपारगाः: having gone to the far shore of the Veda; fully learned in the Vedas
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेदपारग
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• atithi (guest)
• śrotriya (Vedic scholar)
• havya
• kavya
• Veda

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Hospitality is a central duty: when a qualified, Veda-learned Brahmin guest arrives, one should honor him properly and offer what is ritually appropriate (havya for sacrificial context and kavya for ancestral rites). Respecting such guests is presented as a concrete practice that sustains dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Vyāsa lays down a rule about receiving guests. He specifies the kinds of Brahmin guests—Veda-trained, disciplined, śrotriya, and Veda-mastered—who should be especially honored and supported through proper offerings.