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 //
हे सुन्दर-भ्रू स्त्री, याच प्रकारे देव आणि अतिथीही सदैव पोसले जातात—देव, मनुष्य, पितर, प्रेत, भूत आणि गुह्यक यांच्याद्वारेही।
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).