Shloka 41
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
स उज्छवृत्तिस्तं प्रेक्ष्य क्षुधरापरिगतं द्विजम् । आहारं चिन्तयामास कथं तुष्टो भवेदिति,उस उज्छतवृत्तिवाले द्विजने देखा कि ब्राह्मण अतिथि तो अब भी भूखे ही रह गये हैं। तब वे उसके लिये आहारका चिन्तन करने लगे कि यह ब्राह्मण कैसे संतुष्ट हो?
sa ujjhavṛttis taṃ prekṣya kṣudharāparigataṃ dvijam | āhāraṃ cintayāmāsa kathaṃ tuṣṭo bhaved iti ||
That man of austere livelihood, seeing the twice-born guest still overcome by hunger and thirst, began to ponder what food might be found—how this brahmin could be satisfied. The verse highlights the ethical urgency of hospitality: the host’s duty is not merely to receive a guest, but to ensure the guest’s need is truly met.
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores atithi-dharma: a righteous person must actively seek to relieve a guest’s hunger and distress, treating the guest’s satisfaction as a moral responsibility rather than a formality.
Nakula describes an austere householder who notices that the visiting brahmin is still afflicted by hunger and thirst, and therefore begins searching in his mind for some means of providing food so the guest may be satisfied.