Part 1 - Who is an ‘atithi’?

Dharmaśāstra literature is widely popular after the Vedas. During the Dharmaśāstra period, special rules were formulated for rituals. In the varṇāśrama system, the four āśramas Brahmacarya, Gārhasthya, Vānaprastha and Sannyāsa were of great significance. Out of these Gārhasthya got more importance. Atithi-saparyā is one of the daily routine of gṛhastha. Detailed description of an atithi can be found in Dharmaśāstra texts. Gṛhastha observed atithi-saparyā as his duty.

In the Dharmaśāstra literature we get many definitions as to who is an atithi. These specifications focus as different aspects of atithisapryā. Here an attempt in made to analyse such definitions of atithi.

All Dharmasūtras and Dharmaśāstras clearly define the specifications of an atithi. The definition of an atithi is almost same in all Dharmaśāstras. According to Gautama Dharmasūtra , a man from a different village, who comes when the sun is setting behind the trees and spends just one night is an atithi.^[1] Thus, one who came at the time of sunset or immediately after that is regarded as an atithi as he has no other particular place to stay. Atithis who came in the evening were given more importance. Similarly, people from the same village were not considered as atithis. This can be explained in the light of the fact that those were times with less transportation facilities and thus people who travelled from one place to another during the evening needed places to stay. Because people from the same village could go back in the same evening, the term “atithi” was restricted to refer only those who came in the evening and needed a stay for the night.

The Śāṅkhāyana Gṛhyasūtra quotes a śloka, which can be rendered in English as,“He shall not be considered as a guest, who is living in the same village. Nor one who comes on his way back from a journey. But he should consider as a guest, who arrives at host’s place, where the wife or the sacred fires of the host are stationed”.^[2] Āpastaṃba Dharmasūtra says that the person, who comes solely with a view to fulfilling his duties and with no other purpose to a householder is called an atithi, and that honour done to such an atithi brings peace and heavenly bliss.^[3]

According to Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra, a Brahmin who spends one night, according to tradition, is called an atithi. He is called an atithi because his stay is brief. A Brahmin who lives in the same village or comes for a social visit is not considered as an atithi.

Manusmṛti says that a brāhmaṇa who stays for only one night in another house is known as an atithi.

ekarātraṃ tu nivasannatithirbrāhmaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ |
anityaṃ hi sthito yasmāttasmādatithirucyate || Manusmṛti, 3.102

Because there is no certainty of his staying there the next day, he is called an atithi. A Brahmin living in the same village as that of the householders or one who lives with his wife is not considered as an atithi.^[4] He is known as an abhyāgata. Householder should respectfully treat his atithi arrived after sunset at the house and he must not be discarded under any circumstances.Yājñavalkyasmṛti mentions that a person who has very good knowledge in Vedas should be considered as an atithi.^[5]

An atithi is not just a reverend person who enjoys peaceful and comfortable stay at the householder’s abode. He is expected to have immense worldly knowledge and nobleness. A learned scholar is always a respectable atithi in a householder’s abode. Practices of ritualistic treatment of atithi are found in yāgas and yajñas. A householder offers hospitality to his atithi every day as part of Pañcamahāyajña. At the end of the bali offerings one should offer food to atithi first, and then give bhikṣā to a brahmacārin.^[6] When an atithi arrives after the sunset, the householder should treat him with a bed, a seat and food according to his ability.

A person who is not virtuous and noble is not treated as an atithi. Śātātapa says that one who arrives at the end of the Vaiśvadeva rite, whether his character is good or bad, should be treated as an atithi.^[7]

Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa ordains that householder should not treat the following as atithi: a friend, a fellow-villager and one who belongs to an unknown family.^[8] Viṣṇupurāṇa corroborates the view.^[9] A learned man should not inquire an atithi’s lineage or conduct, or his private study; he should esteem him, whether handsome or otherwise in appearance, as a prajāpati. When he is pleased, the householder has fulfilled his duty. He is released from the debt which is sure to befall had he failed to show hospitality.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

asamānagrāmo'tithiraikarātriko'dhivṛkṣasūryopasthayī || Gautama Dharmasūtra,1.5.36, p.55

[2]:

Ram Gopal, India of Vedic Kalpasūtras, p.458

[3]:

svadharmayuktaṃ kuṭumbinamabhyāgacchati dharmapuraskāro nānyaprayojanaḥ so'tithirbhavati || tasya pūjāyāṃ śāntiḥ svargaśca || Āpastaṃba Dharmasūtra, 2.3.6.5, 2.3.6.6

[4]:

naikagrāmīṇamatithiṃ vipraṃ sāṃgatikaṃ tathā |
upasthitaṃ gṛhe vidyād bhāryā yatrāgnayo'pi vā || Manusmṛti, 3.103

[5]:

adhvanīno'tithirjñeyaḥ śrotriyo vedapāragaḥ |
mānyāvetau gṛhasthasya brahmalokamabhīpsataḥ || Yājñavalkyasmṛti, Ācārādhyāya [ācārādhyāyaḥ], 1.5.111

[6]:

kṛtvaitad balikarmaivamatithiṃ pūrvamāśayet |
bhikṣāṃ ca bhikṣave dadyāt vidhivad brahmacāriṇe || Manusmṛti, 3.94

[7]:

priyo vā yadi vā dveṣyo mūrkhaḥ patita eva vā | sa prāpte vaiśvadevānte so'tithiḥ svargasaṃkramaḥ ||

[8]:

na mitramatithiṃ kuryānnaikagrāmanivāsinam |
ajñātakulanāmānaṃ tatkālasamupasthitam || Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, 26.28

[9]:

ajñātakulanāmānamanyadeśādupāgatam |
pūjayedatithiṃ samyagnaikagrāmanivāsinam || Śrī Viṣṇupurāṇa, 3.11.61