Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments
देवतातिथिभूतेषु भृत्येष्वभ्यागतेषु च ।
अभुक्तवत्सु येऽश्नन्ति तद्वत् पित्रग्निपक्षिषु ॥
devatātithibhūteṣu bhṛtyeṣvabhyāgateṣu ca / abhuktavatsu ye 'śnanti tadvat pitragnipakṣiṣu
ਜੋ ਦੇਵਤਿਆਂ, ਮਹਿਮਾਨਾਂ, ਆਸਰੇ ਵਾਲੇ ਜੀਵਾਂ, ਨੌਕਰਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਆਏ ਹੋਏ ਯਾਤਰੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਖਵਾਏ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਆਪ ਖਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ—ਇਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਪਿਤਰਾਂ, ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਅੱਗ ਅਤੇ ਪੰਛੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਵੀ—ਉਹ ਦੋਸ਼ੀ ਹਨ।
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Householder life is framed as service: one eats righteously only after honoring the proper recipients—deities (worship), guests (hospitality), dependents/creatures (compassion), servants (duty), ancestors and fire (ritual order).
Dharma instruction; ancillary to the Purāṇic corpus rather than a pañcalakṣaṇa narrative unit.
The ‘order of feeding’ symbolizes the ordering of consciousness: higher obligations first (sacred/relational duties), personal consumption last—training the ego to serve rather than seize.