Shloka 13
जापक–इक्ष्वाकु–सत्यविवादः
The Jāpaka, Ikṣvāku, and the Dispute on Truth and Merit
इस विषयमें ये श्लोक प्रसिद्ध हैं-- जिस गृहस्थके दरवाजेसे कोई अतिथि भिक्षा न पानेके कारण निराश होकर लौट जाता है, वह उस गृहस्थको अपना पाप दे उसका पुण्य लेकर चला जाता है ।।
bharadvāja uvāca | asmin viṣaye ime ślokāḥ prasiddhāḥ— yasya gṛhasthasya dvārāt kaścid atithiḥ bhikṣām alabhitvā nirāśaḥ pratinivartate, sa tasmai gṛhasthāya svaṃ pāpaṃ dattvā tasya puṇyaṃ gṛhītvā gacchati || api cātra yajñakriyābhiḥ devatāḥ prīyante | nivāpena pitaraḥ | vidyābhyāsa-śravaṇa-dhāraṇena ṛṣayaḥ | apatyotpādanena prajāpatiḥ iti |
अत्र प्रसिद्धौ श्लोकौ—यस्य द्वारात् अतिथिर्भिक्षामलभमानो निराशः प्रतिनिवर्तते, स अतिथिः तस्मै गृहस्थाय स्वपापं दत्त्वा तस्य पुण्यमादाय गच्छति॥ अपि च गृहस्थाश्रमे यज्ञक्रियाभिः देवताः प्रीयन्ते, निवापैः पितरः, विद्याश्रवणाभ्यासधारणैः ऋषयः, अपत्योत्पादनेन प्रजापतिः प्रीयते॥
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder must not let a guest depart unserved; neglecting hospitality causes the householder to lose merit and incur the guest’s demerit. The verse also summarizes the householder’s key obligations: sacrifice for the gods, offerings for ancestors, study for the seers, and procreation for Prajāpati.
Bharadvāja is instructing on gṛhastha-dharma within the Śānti Parva’s ethical discourse, using a well-known maxim about the moral consequences of refusing alms to a guest and then listing how different sacred stakeholders (gods, ancestors, seers, Prajāpati) are satisfied through specific household duties.