Talk:Order of Feeding and Serving

By Vishal Agarwal

Before even the atithi is fed, the following must be provided food for obvious reasons:

A newly married bride, infants, the sick, and a pregnant woman – these should be fed without hesitation even before the atithi-s are fed. Manusmṛti 3.144, Viṣṇu Dharmasūtra 67.39

A householder who eats while pregnant women, sick persons, servants, children and elders in his home are still hungry begets great sin. Vyāsa Smṛti 3.45

The householder should eat himself only after he has fed married women, unmarried women, children and elders in his home. Hārita Smṛti 3.64

Amongst the atithi-s, those who are more respectable and learned are fed first. Thereafter, friends, kinsmen and servants are fed. And only after all these have eaten, the householder should eat the remnants with a cheerful mind and without complaining that all these ate a lot of food at their home not leaving much for them:

After feeding the brāhmaṇas (and members of other varṇas who have come as guests), his friends and relatives and also their servants, the married couple should then eat the remnants of food left themselves. Manusmṛti 4.116, Viṣṇu Dharmasūtra 67.41

Having honored the devas, the ṛṣis, men, the ancestors, and the guardian devas of the house, the householder shall eat afterwards what remains. Manusmṛti 3.117

It is the duty of the householder to divide his food amongst others, and thereafter alone eat his share with a cheerful disposition. Dakṣa Smṛti 2.56