Shloka 57
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
सर्वातिथ्यं त्रिवर्गस्य यथाशक्ति यथा्हत: । व्यापार करनेवाले सदाचारी वैश्यको तिल, चन्दन और रसकी विक्री नहीं करनी चाहिये तथा ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय और वैश्य--इस त्रिवर्गकका सब प्रकारसे यथाशक्ति यथायोग्य आतिथ्यसत्कार करना चाहिये ।।
sarvātithyaṁ trivargasya yathāśakti yathārhataḥ | śūdradharmaḥ paro nityaṁ śuśrūṣā ca dvijātiṣu |
Śrī Maheśvara disse: “Que se ofereça hospitalidade de todas as formas—conforme a própria capacidade e conforme o que é apropriado—às três ordens superiores. Para o Śūdra, o dever mais alto e constante é o serviço e a atenta assistência aos ‘duas-vezes-nascidos’ (dvija). Um Śūdra veraz, senhor de seus sentidos e dedicado a servir o hóspede que chega à sua casa, acumula grande mérito de tapas; para ele, o dharma do serviço em si torna-se uma austeridade rigorosa.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that hospitality should be offered appropriately and within one’s means, and that for a Śūdra the foremost, continual dharma is respectful service to the twice-born; truthful, self-controlled service to guests is itself a form of tapas that yields great merit.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused setting, Śrī Maheśvara delivers a normative teaching on social and ethical duties—highlighting proper hospitality toward the three higher varṇas and defining service as the Śūdra’s principal religious discipline.