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:
atithi stv indralokasya devalokasya cartvijaḥ | jāmayo 'psarasāṁ loke vaiśvadeve tu jñātayaḥ ||
毗耶娑说：“宾客当视为因陀罗世界之主；主祭的祭司（ṛtvij）当视为诸天世界之主。家中的妇女当视为阿普萨罗（天女）之境的女主；而亲族则有资格得至毗湿维提婆（Viśvedevas）之界。”
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.