Verse 3.111

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

यदि त्वतिथिधर्मेण क्षत्रियो गृहमाव्रजेत् ।
भुक्तवत्सु च विप्रेषु कामं तमपि भोजयेत् ॥ १११ ॥

yadi tvatithidharmeṇa kṣatriyo gṛhamāvrajet |
bhuktavatsu ca vipreṣu kāmaṃ tamapi bhojayet || 111 ||

If a Kṣatriya should happen to come to one’s house in the character of a guest, one may feed him also, after the Brāhmaṇas have eaten.—(111)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The ‘character’ of the guest consists of—(a) having run short of food during the journey, (b) bring in a strange village and (c) arriving at the time of eating. In this character, if a Kṣatriya happen to come to one’s house, then the householder shall feed him also.

By specifically mentioning ‘feeding,’ the other factors of the ‘honouring’ of guests become precluded; but the addressing of agreeable and wholesome words has been generally enjoined as to be addressed equally to everyone coming to one’s house. The proper time for feeding him is this:—he should be fed after the Brāhmaṇas—guests as well as such non-guests as are entitled to eat first—have eaten.

‘May’—this shows the absence of compulsion; the sense being that what is here laid down is voluntary, not obligatory. And since the reward has not been mentioned, it follows that Heaven is the reward, as it is in the case of all those acts whose rewards are not specifically mentioned. Or, we might connect with this the phrase ‘conducive to wealth, fame, etc.’ (of verse 106).—(111)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Kāmam’—May; i.e., ‘it is not incumbent upon him; it is left to his choice’ (Medhātithi and Nārāyaṇa);—‘as much as the person wishes’ (Rāghavānanda).

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava, (Ācāra, p. 354) as laying down what should be done if a Kṣatriya comes to one’s house as a guest;—in Aparārka (p. 152) as laying down that the Householder may, if he likes, entertain guests other than the Brāhmaṇas;—and in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 440), which notes that this lays down the rule that to the Śūdra thus arrived one should offer the food left in the dishes.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.110-112)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.110.