Talk:The Good & Bad Host and Guests

By Vishal Agarwal

To gauge the relative social standing and importance of the atithi, the host must not first enquire about his lineage, accomplishments and education because all the atithi-s must be served and fed:

Do not ask an atithi what his lineage is, what virtuous deeds he has done, how regular is his study of Śāstras or how many and which Śāstras he has studied. Rather, the host should think of the atithi as a deva in his heart irrespective of his lineage etc., because the atithi is indeed the embodiment of all devas. Parāśara Smṛti 1.48

Only after the atithi is fed that he might be asked all the above questions:

A guest should be served before he is asked of his status etc. Hārita Smṛti 3.27b

Likewise, a noble atithi comes as a guest only when he is in need. He does not take advantage of the generosity of the host to become a parasite or a burden:

The worthy recipient who does not take gifts from the donor even when offered (i.e., he is not greedy) attains the same good realms that the donor attains. Yājñavalkya Smṛti 1.213

Those who covet the free food and shelter offered by others rather than eat the fruit of their own labor and knowledge become like beasts of burden of their hosts in the next life (so to speak):

Those foolish householders who constantly seek to live on the food of others, become, in consequence of that baseness, after death, the cattle of those who give them food. Manusmṛti 3.104

The following teaching of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa summarizes the general philosophy behind atithiyajña:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to King Yudhiṣṭhira: “One who wishes his own well-being in this life and in the life after death should offer food to all those who are hungry. Give food at the right time, to the right person and to the limits of one’s capacity even if it causes some inconvenience to one’s own family. Finding an elder, a child, a tired and hungry traveler or a respectable visitor at his door, the householder should invite him and feed him with hospitality, grace, respect and joy. Do not judge a person from his learning or lineage if he shows up at your door. Feed with reverence anyone who comes hungry to your home, be he an outcaste or an uncivilized person who eats dogmeat. He who shuts the door to a hungry visitor and enjoys food alone will find that the doors of heaven will be shut upon him. The giver of food is the giver of life. To desire your good, give food, give food, give food.” Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva (Vaiṣṇavadharma in the Southern Recension)