Shloka 8

कामबन्धन-निवृत्ति तथा शान्तिलक्षण-उपदेशः | Release from Desire-Bondage and the Marks of Peace

Devanagari script

तथास्यातिथय: पूज्या हव्यकव्यवहा: सदा । वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाता: श्रोत्रिया वेदपारगा:

Transliteration

tathāsyātithayaḥ pūjyā havyakavyavahāḥ sadā | vedavidyāvratasnātāḥ śrotriyā vedapāragāḥ ||

Translation

لہٰذا مہمان ہمیشہ قابلِ تعظیم ہیں—خصوصاً وہ جو ہویہ (قربانی کی نذر) اور کَویہ (شرادھ/آبائی نذر) کے اہل ہوں: وید کے عالم، ورت کے پابند، سْناتک، شروتریہ اور ویدپارگ برہمن۔ ایسا عالم، ضبطِ نفس والا، اپنے ہی دھرم پر قائم تپسوی مہمان جب دروازے پر آئے تو قاعدے کے مطابق اس کی تعظیم و پوجا کر کے اسے ہویہ اور کَویہ پیش کرنا چاہیے؛ یہی مہمان نوازی کے دھرم کا حکم ہے۔

Word by Word

• तथा: thus/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• स्यात्: should be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (भू)
• Form: Vidhi-linga, optative (potential), 3, singular, Parasmaipada

• अतिथयः: guests
• अतिथयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अतिथि
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• पूज्याः: to be honored/worthy of worship
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूज्य
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• हव्यकव्यवहाः: those who partake of havya and kavya offerings
• Type: Noun
• Root: हव्यकव्यवह
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• सदा: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

• वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाताः: versed in Veda and learning, observant of vows, and having completed the स्नान (graduation)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेदविद्याव्रतस्नात
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• श्रोत्रियाः: learned Vedic Brahmins (śrotriyas)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रोत्रिय
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• वेदपारगाः: having gone to the far shore of the Veda; fully learned in the Vedas
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेदपारग
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• atithi (guest)
• śrotriya (Vedic scholar)
• havya
• kavya
• Veda

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Hospitality is a central duty: when a qualified, Veda-learned Brahmin guest arrives, one should honor him properly and offer what is ritually appropriate (havya for sacrificial context and kavya for ancestral rites). Respecting such guests is presented as a concrete practice that sustains dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Vyāsa lays down a rule about receiving guests. He specifies the kinds of Brahmin guests—Veda-trained, disciplined, śrotriya, and Veda-mastered—who should be especially honored and supported through proper offerings.