Part 2 - Treatment of Atithi (guest-reception) in Mahābhārata

Atithi-saparyā is depicted with equal fervor in the Mahābhārata too. There are many stories in Mahābhārata which portray instances of gaining boon and sin through atithi-saparyā. Atithi-saparyā is taken as a nityakarman. It is a prime duty of a householder, according to the Mahābhārata.

When atithi is a powerful sage, the householder becomes more careful. Such instances are seen in Vanaparvan of Mahābhārata. At one such instance Duryodhana treats Durvāsas very carefully to avoid curse. So also Pāñcālī is scared of a curse, when Durvāsas approached Pāṇḍavas in the forest. Kuntī’s boon is also an important story in Mahābhārata.^[1]

1. Atithi-saparyā of Pulomā

There is a beautiful story in the Mahābhārata showing the importance of atithi-saparyā, where we can find a householder woman, even in the absence of her husband, doing the duty of an ātitheyī. Once when pregnant Pulomā, the wife of sage Bhṛgu was alone in the hermitage, a demon named Puloman reached there. He was very much attracted by the beauty of the Pulomā. Being a pious householder (dutiful wife of a gṛhastha), she treated him well by giving fruits and grains. She received her atithi properly though she was pregnant.^[2] Such incidents are seen in Rāmāyaṇa, Kumārasaṃbhava, Kādaṃbari etc. In Rāmāyaṇa even in the absence of Rāma, Sītā receives Rāvaṇa very well. She holds very much importance in her duty as an ātitheyī. The story of Puloma in Mahābhārata, and that of Sītā in Rāmāyaṇa are similar. They happened to receive their atithi when they were alone. Both of them were ignorant about the real identity of the atithi. Puloma never understood that the person before her is the demon Puloman. Sītā was also unaware that it was Rāvaṇa who came disguised as a Brahmin. It is the duty of a householder to receive his atithi. In his absence, the wife should perform this. It is an obligation. Here both of them have no other choice than treating their atithi in a respectful manner, which eventually lead to calamity. Here two wicked persons, Puloman and Rāvaṇa, used the custom atithi-saparyā as a tool to execute their evil plan.

2. Testing the host

In Anuśāsanaparvan, there is an episode where we get sermon on atithi-saparyā. Bhīṣma here preaches the importance of hospitality to Yudhiṣṭhira. Sudarśana the son of Agnideva and Sudarśanā (Duryodhana’s daughter) take a vow to win over death through gārhasthya. Hence Sudarśana gave a standing instruction to his wife Oghavatī to treat their atithis with all the comforts they wanted.^[3]

She should be even ready to give herself if it is warranted. It’s the most important duty of a householder to serve his atithi. One day when Sudarśana went out for collecting samit for the sacrifice, a Brāhmin came into their house and asked Oghavatī to treat him according to the Gārhasthya rites.^[4] Oghavatī, being a responsible wife offered refreshments and asked him what else he wanted. The brāhmaṇa openly said that he likes to have a physical relationship with the beautiful Oghavatī.^[5] Oghavatī was not ready for that and asked for something else but the brāhmaṇa was unyielding. But later remembering the words of her husband, she agreed reluctantly. After some time Sudarśana returned. Though he called her many times standing outside the door, She did not reply. Hearing the voice of Sudarśana, the brāhmaṇa replied from inside and said that he had come there as an atithi and Oghavatī was attending him.^[6] Sudarśana was pleased to hear this and said that it was the duty of a householder to serve the brāhmaṇātithi accordingly. He was ready to give not only his wealth and wife but also was ready to give his own life.^[7] At this juncture, the brāhmaṇa came out and said that he was Dharma and had come there to test him. He was pleased with Sudarśana’s staunch adherence to dharma and blessed him. After narrating the story of Sudarśana and Oghavatī, Bhīṣma says to Yudhiṣṭhira that the atithi is truly God for a householder.^[8]

3. Honouring atithi: greater than 100 sacrifices

There is a beautiful story in the Mahābhārata where the greatness of ātithyadharma is highlighted. The narrative technique employed is also very interesting. It is the famous story of the semi-golden mongoose^[9]. A real ātitheya is one who dedicates all his belongings to an atithi, even if he happens to be poor. Janamejaya once asked Vaiśaṃpāyana whether there occurred any surprising incident during Yudhiṣṭhira’s sacrifice. Vaiśaṃpāyana narrated about the visit of a supernatural mongoose having blue eyes and golden hue only in some part of his body. To the surprise of the people gathered there, the mongoose started talking like a human being. The mongoose told them that their sacrifice was never equal to the lurking gift offered by a Brahmin in Kurukṣetra.^[10] There lived a Brahmin, his wife, son, and daughter-in-law in Kurukṣetra. They were in extreme poverty and found their food by collecting the fallen grains from the field. They had their food only at evening. They waited all day for having their food. Once a great famine happened in that village which brought in extreme poverty. One day the Brahmin got some grains. Having crushed and cooked these grains, they were about to have the food. Exactly at the same moment an atithi appeared there. The Brahmin being a respectable householder welcomed his atithi with “arghyapādyas”. After that, he shared a portion of the prepared food to the atithi. But the guest remained hungry. Then the wife, son and daughter-in-law all gave their share too, in turn, to the hungry atithi. The words uttered by them while sharing their food is much meaningful. Actually, the atithi, in disguise, was Dharmadeva himself. The pleased Dharmadeva brought the whole family to brahmaloka. The mongoose mentioned that he had witnessed all this development. Then he rolled on the ground as the holy flowers and lurking parts stuck on its body parts, the head and half of its body turned into gold. This happened so because of the goodness of the Brahmin. In order to make the rest of the body also shine with golden hue, the mongoose went to many sacrifices and holy places. He thus reached Yudhiṣṭhira’s sacrifice area too. But his body never became golden.^[11] So, he said that their sacrifice is never equal to the Brahmin’s deed.

Now we have gone through several instances of atithi-saparyā in Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. Both of them shower lights on a particular developmental aspects of atithi-saparyā especially through testing the hosts, giving boons and sins. More than comforting an atithi, it became a necessity to fullfill the desires of atithi too. Otherwise it may end up with adversities. Proper`surrender and sacrifice in atithi-saparyā can bring boons to the householder too.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This aspect has been dealt with special focus in the tenth chapter. infra, Chapter-10, p.195-196

[2]:

abhyāgataṃ tu tadrakṣa: pulomā cārudarśanā |
nyamantrayata vanyena phalamūlādinā tadā || Mahābhārata, Ādiparvan, 5.27

[3]:

yena yena ca tuṣyeta nityameva tvayātithiḥ |
apyātmanaḥ pradānena na te kāryā vicāraṇā || Mahābhārata, Anuśāsanaparvan, 2.42
etad vrataṃ mama sadā hṛdi saṃparivartate |
gṛhasthanāṃ hi suśroṇi nātithervidyate param || ibid., 2.43
pramāṇaṃ yadi vāmoru vacaste mama śobhane |
idaṃ vacanamavyagrā hṛdi tvaṃ dhārayeḥ sadā || ibid., 2.44
niṣkrānte mayi kalyāṇi tathā saṃnihite'naghe nātithiste'vamantavyaḥ pramāṇaṃ yadyahaṃ tava || ibid., 2.45

[4]:

ātithyaṃ dattamicchāmi tvayādya varavarṇini |
pramāṇaṃ yadi dharmasthe gṛhasthaśramasaṃmataḥ ||

[5]:

ityuktā tena vipreṇa rājaputrī yaśasvinī |
vidhinā pratijagrāha vedoktena viśāṃ pate ||
āsanaṃ caiva pādyaṃ ca tasmai datvā dvijātaye |
provācaughavatī vipraṃ kenārthaḥ kiṃ dadāmi te || tāmabravīttato vipro rājaputrīṃ sudarśanām |
tvayā mamārthaḥ kalyāṇi nirviśaṅke tadācara || ibid., 2.49-52

[6]:

uṭajasthastu taṃ vipraḥ pratyuvāca sudarśanam |
atithiṃ viddhi saṃprāptaṃ pāvake brāhmaṇaṃ ca mām || ibid., 2.63
anayā chandyamāno'haṃ bhāryayā tava sattama |
taistairatithisatkārairārjave'syā dṛḍhaṃ manaḥ || ibid., 2.64

[7]:

surataṃ te'stu viprāgrya prītirhi paramā mama |
gṛhasthasya hi dharmo'gryaḥ saṃprāptātithipūjanam || ibid., 2.68
atithiḥ pūjito yasya gṛhasthasya tu gacchati |
nānyastasmātparo dharma iti prāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ || ibid., 2.69
prāṇā hi mama dārāśca yaccānyadvidyate vasu |
atithibhyo mayā deyamiti me vratamāhitam || ibid., 2.70

[8]:

tasmād gṛhāśramasthasya nānyaddaivatamasti vai |
ṛte'tithiṃ naravyāghra manasaitadvicāraya || ibid., 2.90

[9]:

vaiśampāyana uvāca—
śrūyatāṃ rājaśārdūla mahadāścaryamuttamam |
aśvamedhe mahāyajñe nivṛtte yadasūtprabho || Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhikaparva, Nakulākhyāna, 90.2
tarpiteṣu jitāganyeṣu jñātisaṃbandhibandhuṣu |
dīnāndhakṛpaṇe vā'pi tadā bharatasattama || ibid., 90.3
dhuṣyamāṇe mahādāne dikṣu sarvāsu bhārata |
patatsu puṣpavarṣeṣu dharmarājasya mūrdhani || ibid., 90.4
nīlākṣastatra nakulo rukmapārśvastadānagha |
vajrāśanisamaṃ nādamamuñcadvasudhādhipa || ibid., 90.5
sakṛdutsṛjya tannādaṃ trāsayāno sṛgadvijān |
mānuṣaṃ vacanaṃ prāha dhṛṣṭo vilaśayo mahān || ibid., 90.6
saktuprasthena vo nā'yaṃ yajñastulyo narādhipāḥ |
uñchavṛttervadānyasya kurukṣetranivāsinaḥ || ibid., 90.7

[10]:

iti pṛṣṭo dvijaistai: sa prahasannakulo'bravīt |
naiṣā nṛpā mayā vāṇī proktā darpeṇa vā dvijāḥ || ibid., 90.18
yanmayoktamidaṃ vākyaṃ yuṣmābhiścāpyupaśrutam |
saktupratyena vo nāyaṃ yajñastulyo dvijarṣabhāḥ || ibid., 90.19
ityavaśyaṃ mayaitadvo vaktavyaṃ dvijasattamāḥ |
śṛṇutāvyagramanasaḥ śaṃsato me yathātatham || ibid., 90.20
anubhūtaṃ ca dṛṣṭaṃ ca yanmayā'dbhutamuttamam |
uñchavṛttervadānyasya kurukṣetranivāsinaḥ || ibid., 90.21
svargaṃ yena dvijāḥ prāptaḥ sabhāryaḥ sasutasinuṣaḥ |
yathā cārthaṃ śarīrasya mamedaṃ kāñcanīkṛtam || ibid., 90.22

[11]:

sabhārya: sahaputraśca sasnuṣaśca divaṃ vraja |
ityuktvākye dharme tu yānamāruhya sa dvijaḥ || ibid., 90.107
sadāraḥ sasutaścaiva sasnuṣaśca divaṃ gataḥ |
tasminvipre gate svargaṃ sasute sasnuṣe tadā || ibid., 90.108
bhāryācaturthe dharmajñe tato'haṃ niḥ sṛto bilāt |
tatastu saktugandhena kledena salilasya ca || ibid., 90.109
divyapuṣṣavimardācca sādhordānalavaiśca taiḥ |
viprasya tapasā tasya śiro me kāñcanīkṛtam || ibid., 90.110
tasya satyabhisaṃghasya saktudānena caiva ha |
śarīrārdhaṃ ca me viprāḥ śātakumbhabhayaṃ kṛtam || ibid., 90.111
paśyatemaṃ suvipulaṃ tapasā tasya dhīmataḥ |
kathamevaṃvidhaṃ syādvai pārśvamanyaditi dvijāḥ || ibid., 90.112
tapovanāni yajñāṃśca hṛṣṭo'bhyemi punaḥ punaḥ |
yajñaṃ tvahamimaṃ śrutvā kururājasya dhīmataḥ || ibid., 90.113
āśayā parayā prāpto na cāhaṃ kāñcanīkṛtaḥ |
tato mayoktaṃ tadvākyaṃ prahasya brāhmaṇarṣabhāḥ || ibid., 90.114
saktuprasthena yajño'yaṃ saṃbhito neti sarvathā |
saktuprasthalavaistairhi tadā'haṃ kāñcanīkṛtaḥ || ibid., 90.115
na hi yajño mahāneṣa sadṛśastairmato mama |
ityuktvā nakulaḥ sarvānyajñe dvijavarāṃstadā || ibid., 90.116