Shloka 47

Devanagari script

देवतापितृभूतानि तथानभ्यर्च्य यो ऽतिथीन् भुङ्क्ते स पातकं भुङ्क्ते निष्कृतिस् तस्य कीदृशी

Transliteration

devatāpitṛbhūtāni tathānabhyarcya yo 'tithīn bhuṅkte sa pātakaṃ bhuṅkte niṣkṛtis tasya kīdṛśī

Translation

जो देवताओं, पितरों और प्राणियों को तथा अतिथि को भी बिना अर्चन-सत्कार किए भोजन करता है, वह भोजन नहीं—पाप खाता है। ऐसे दोष का प्रायश्चित्त कैसा हो सकता है?

Word by Word

• देवतापितृभूतानि: the deities, ancestors, and beings (collectively)
• देवतापितृभूतानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवता (प्रातिपदिक) + पितृ (प्रातिपदिक) + भूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; समाहार-द्वन्द्व (collective)

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Prakara (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक

• अनभ्यर्च्य: without worshipping
• अनभ्यर्च्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अन्- + अभि + अर्च् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive), निषेधपूर्वक; 'having not worshipped'

• यः: who (he who)
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• अतिथीन्: guests
• अतिथीन्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अतिथि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; कर्म

• भुङ्क्ते: eats
• भुङ्क्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भुज् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person/प्रथम), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• पातकम्: sin, transgression
• पातकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पातक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म

• भुङ्क्ते: eats/partakes (incurs)
• भुङ्क्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भुज् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person/प्रथम), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• निष्कृतिः: expiation, atonement
• निष्कृतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निष्कृति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• तस्य: of him
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध

• कीदृशी: what kind (can it be)?
• कीदृशी: Predicative (Predicate adjective/विशेष्य-विशेषणभाव)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कीदृश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-विशेषण

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Sin incurred by eating without offerings to devas/pitṛs/bhūtas and without honoring atithi; gravity and atonement

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: severe, admonitory

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Food becomes sanctified only when preceded by honoring devas, pitṛs, beings, and guests; otherwise consumption turns into pātaka, demanding grave expiation.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Before eating, offer a simple prayer/naivedya, remember ancestors, share with others (people/animals), and treat guests with dignity.

Vishishtadvaita: Eating is integrated into īśvara-sevā: the world and its beings are Bhagavān’s śeṣa (dependents), so offering and sharing express the soul’s śeṣatva (servitude).

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Bhakti Type: Dasya

Characters & Entities

• Devas
• Pitrs (ancestors)
• Bhutas (living beings)
• Atithi (guest)

FAQs

What is the significance of honoring devas, pitrs, beings, and guests before eating in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames eating as a sacred act that must be integrated into dharma: offerings and hospitality acknowledge the cosmic and social web upheld by Vishnu’s order; without them, the act becomes a generator of pāpa.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the moral consequence of neglecting atithi-seva (guest-honor)?

Parāśara states that one who eats without honoring the atithi is effectively ‘eating sin’; the rhetorical question about expiation underscores the gravity of violating household dharma.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named, the ethic reflects Vaishnava cosmology: dharma and rightful conduct are expressions of the Supreme Sustainer’s governance, and household rites align daily life with that sustaining Reality.