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 |
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच— त्रिवर्गस्य यथाशक्ति यथायोग्यं च सर्वथा आतिथ्यं विधातव्यम्। शूद्रस्य तु परो नित्यं धर्मः शुश्रूषा द्विजातिषु। यः शूद्रः सत्यवादी जितेन्द्रियः स्वगृहमागतमतिथिं श्रद्धया परिचरति, स महत् तपः संचिनोति; तस्य सेवारूपो धर्म एव कठोरं तपो भवति।
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.