Verse 3.104

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

उपासते ये गृहस्थाः परपाकमबुद्धयः ।
तेन ते प्रेत्य पशुतां व्रजन्त्यन्नादिदायिनः ॥ १०४ ॥

upāsate ye gṛhasthāḥ parapākamabuddhayaḥ |
tena te pretya paśutāṃ vrajantyannādidāyinaḥ || 104 ||

Those foolish householders who wait upon the food cooked by others, become, after death, on that account, cattle belonging to the givers of food.—(104).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Waiting upon’ means attending repeatedly. Some Brāhmaṇas wander from house to house with a view to the fact that at such and such a house the guest is sure to be fed; and it is this that is deprecated in the present verse.

One who is in the habit of waiting upon the food cooked for others,—rand not one who happens to do it only once by the way,—‘on that account’—by reason of that act—‘after death, cattle’—are born as a bull, &c., in the house of the ‘givers of food;’ i.e., are born as his elephant, mule or horse.

This is a defect only in the Householder, who has established his own domestic hearth.—(104)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 769) and in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 250).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Yājñavalkya (1.112).—‘One should not have a longing for food cooked in the house of others, except when one has been invited; he should avoid fickleness of hands, feet and speech, and also over-eating.’