Shloka 18

Devanagari script

अतिथि स्त्विन्द्रलोकस्य देवलोकस्य चर्त्विज: । जामयो>प्सरसां लोके वैश्वदेवे तु ज्ञातय:,इनसे हार मानकर रहनेवाला मनुष्य सम्पूर्ण लोकोंपर विजय पाता है, इसमें संशय नहीं है। आचार्य ब्रह्मलोकका स्वामी है, पिता प्रजापतिलोकका ईश्वर है, अतिथि इन्द्रलोकके और ऋत्विज देवलोकके स्वामी हैं। कुटुम्बकी स्त्रियाँ अप्सराओंके लोककी स्वामिनी हैं और जाति-भाई विश्वेदेव लोकके अधिकारी हैं

Transliteration

atithi stv indralokasya devalokasya cartvijaḥ | jāmayo 'psarasāṁ loke vaiśvadeve tu jñātayaḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa berkata: “Tetamu hendaklah dipandang sebagai tuan bagi alam Indra; pendeta upacara (ṛtvij) hendaklah dipandang sebagai tuan bagi alam para dewa. Para wanita dalam rumah tangga hendaklah dipandang sebagai penguasa alam Apsara, dan kaum kerabat berhak atas alam Viśvedeva.”

Word by Word

अतिथिःguest

तुbut/and (emphatic)

इन्द्रलोकस्यof Indra's world (Svarga)

देवलोकस्यof the gods' world

चand

ऋत्विजःsacrificial priest

जामयःfemale relatives (women of the family)

अप्सरसाम्of the Apsarases

लोकेin the world/realm

वैश्वदेवेin the realm of the Viśvedevas

तुbut/and (emphatic)

ज्ञातयःkinsmen/agnates

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Atithi (guest)

Indraloka

Ṛ

Ṛtvij (officiating priest)

Devaloka

Jāmayaḥ (household women/affinal kin)

Apsarases

Apsaras-loka

Viśvedevas (Vaiśvadeva)

Jñātayaḥ (kinsmen)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that key social relationships—guest, priest, household women, and kinsmen—must be honored as sacred. Treating them with due respect is framed as reverence toward the divine realms they symbolize, strengthening dharma through hospitality, ritual propriety, and family duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Vyāsa states a hierarchy of reverence: the guest is linked with Indra’s heaven, the ritual priest with the gods’ realm, household women with the Apsarases’ realm, and kinsmen with the Viśvedevas—underscoring how everyday conduct carries spiritual consequence.