Shloka 40
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
अतिथिदव्रतता धर्मों धर्मस्त्रेताग्निधारणम् | इष्टी क्ष पशुबन्धां श्व विधिपूर्व समाचरेत्
atithidavr̥tatā dharmo dharmas tretāgnidhāraṇam | iṣṭīś ca paśubandhāṁś ca vidhpūrvam samācaret ||
अतिथिदेवव्रतता धर्मो धर्मस्त्रेताग्निधारणम्। इष्टीश्च पशुबन्धांश्च विधिपूर्वं समाचरेत्॥
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma for a householder includes ethical hospitality to guests and disciplined maintenance of sacred obligations—especially preserving the three household fires and performing prescribed Vedic rites correctly (vidhi-pūrvam).
Śrī Mahēśvara is instructing on normative dharma: he enumerates key duties—honoring guests, sustaining the three fires, and conducting sacrifices—presenting them as foundational practices of righteous living.