Shloka 18
कामबन्धन-निवृत्ति तथा शान्तिलक्षण-उपदेशः | Release from Desire-Bondage and the Marks of Peace
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
atithi stv indralokasya devalokasya cartvijaḥ | jāmayo 'psarasāṁ loke vaiśvadeve tu jñātayaḥ ||
Vyāsa disse: “O hóspede deve ser considerado o senhor do mundo de Indra; o sacerdote oficiante (ṛtvij), o senhor do mundo dos deuses. As mulheres da casa devem ser tidas como as senhoras do reino das Apsaras, e os parentes têm direito ao mundo dos Viśvedevas.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.