Manava Dharmashastra 3.109

3.109

atithipūjāprasaṅgenānyeṣāmapi keṣāṃcitpūjyānāṃ gṛhāgatānāṃ pūjāviśeṣo vidhīyate | rājā'bhiṣikto, na kṣatriyamātram | atimahatī hyeṣā pūjā, na tāṃ sarvaḥ kṣatriyo'rhati | na hi snātakagurubhyāṃ tasya sahopadeśo yuktaḥ | pūjāsāmyaṃ guruṇā na tasya yuktam | liṅgadarśanācca | tadyathaivānyo manuṣyarāja āgata ityātithyeṣṭibrāhmaṇaṃ, govadho madhuparkavidhāvukto goghno'tithiriti puruṣarājaviṣayaṃ darśayati | tena kṣatriye'kṣatriye vā janapadeśvare pūjeyaṃ prayoktavyā | śūdre tu nāsti mantravattvam | "nanu ca śūdrasya mantroccāraṇaṃ niṣiddham | na punaḥ śūdrasaṃpradānake karmaṇi brāhmaṇādīnām' | naiṣa doṣaḥ | ardhyāṇāmapi "bhūtebhyastvā" ityādimantroccāraṇamasti | "nanu ca mahābhārate śūdrakartṛkamapi madhuparkakarma śrūyate— 'tadarhamāsanaṃ caiva yathāvatpratyavedayat | madhuparkaṃ ca gāṃ caiva tasmai bhagavate svayam' || 'bhagavate' vāsudevāya vidura iti' | tatsādhane dṛdhani bhaktyā madhuparkaśabdaḥ prayuktaḥ | tādarthyāttacchabdo bhavati—āyurvai ghṛtamitivat | rājaśabdastāvajjanapadeśvaravacano na kṣatriyamātre vartate | priyo jāmātetyāhuḥ | snātako vidyāvratābhyāmubhābhyām | anyathartvigguravaḥ sarve snātakā eva | āśramāntarasthānāṃ bhaikṣacaryā vihitā, na tvatithadharmeṇa bhojanam | athavā'ciranirvṛttavedādhyayanaḥ ‘snātako’ gṛhyate | etānarhayetpūjayet | madhuparkaśabdaḥ karmanāmadheyam | guhyāttasya svarūpāvagamaḥ | parisaṃvatsarāniti rājādipūjyaviśeṣaṇam | parigato'tikrāntaḥ saṃvatsaro yeṣāṃ tān | yadi saṃvatsare'tīte āgacchanti tadā madhuparkārhā arvāṅ na | kecidevaṃ vyācakṣate | yadi saṃvatsarādarvāgāgacchanti tadā'natīte'pi saṃvatsare prathamapūjāyāḥ punarlabhante pūjām | anye tvāhuḥ | sāṃvatsarikī teṣāṃ pūjā, na yāvadāgamanam | asminpakṣe'rvāgāgamanaṃ na pūjāpratibandhakam | pāṭhāntaraṃ parisaṃvatsarāditi | yāvadeva saṃvatsaraṃ tāvatparisaṃvatsarāttata ūrdhvaṃ punaḥ pūjyā ityarthaḥ |

He should receive, with the “honey-mixture,” the king, the priest, the accomplished Student, the Teacher, the Son-in-law, the Father-in-law and the Maternal uncle,—coming again after a year.—(119)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
In course of the entertaining of guests, the Text proceeds to lay down the special form of honouring of a few other respected persons also.

‘King’—stands here for the annointed king of men, and not for the mere Kṣatriya in general. The honour here prescribed is a very great one, and every Kṣatriya does not deserve it. Nor would it be right to speak of an ordinary Kṣatriya along with the ‘accomplished student’ and the ‘teacher;’ for there can be no similarity between the honour accorded to the Teacher and to an ordinary Kṣatriya. There are Vedic texts also indicative of the same conclusion. For instance, in the Ātithyeṣṭi-Brāhmaṇa we read—‘the guest is like a king of men arrived;’ and in connection with the rule of killing a cow for the offering of ‘Honey-mixture,’ we find the guest spoken of as ‘the killer of cows;’ all which goes to show that the said offering is meant for the king of men. Hence the honour here mentioned is to be paid to a king of men, irrespective of his being a Kṣatriya or not. But so far as the Śūdra king of men is concerned, no honours are to be paid to him which are accompanied by the recitation of Vedic Mantras.

“All that is prohibited is the uttering of mantras by the Śūdra; there is no prohibition of the reciting of mantras by the Brāhmaṇa and others at an offering made to the Śūdra.”

This does not affect our position; as the persons honoured have also got to recite certain mantras, such as ‘bhūtebhyastvā, &c.’

“But in the Mahābhārata we read of the Honey-mixture offered by the Śūdra also: ‘He himself offered to the Blessed Lord a seat fit for him, as also the Honey-mixture and the cow,’—where Vidura is described as offering it to Vāsudeva.”

In such cases, the term ‘honey-mixture’ is used figuratively in the sense of curd, which is one of the ingredients of that mixture; and, in common usage, the name of a thing is applied to another when the latter helps in the bringing into existence of the former; when, for instance, Butter is spoken of as ‘longevity’ itself.

From all this it is clear that the term ‘king’ here denotes the king of men, and not the mere Kṣatriya.

The term ‘priya’ has been declared to mean the son-in-law.

‘Accomplished student’—i.e., accomplished, not in learning ail’d observances both (but only in learniug, still keeping up the observances). If it had stood for one who has accomplished and finished both, then, since the ‘Teacher’ and the ‘Priest’ also would be such ‘accomplished students’ (there would be no point in mentioning these separately). As for people in the other states (of the Recluse, etc.), for these feeding on alms has been prescribed, and not eating in the manner of ‘guests.’ Or, the term ‘snātaka,’ ‘accomplished student’ may stand for one who has only recently completed his course of Vedic Study.

‘He should receive’—honour—all these.

The term ‘honey-mixture’ is the name of a rite; and the exact form of this rite is to be learnt from the Gṛhyasūtras.

‘Parisamvatsarān,’ ‘cominy after a year,’—qualifies the King and other persons to be honoured. The term means ‘over whom one year has passed.’ The meaning is that they are entitled to the honour of the ‘honey-mixture,’ if they come after a year, not before that.

Some people explain the verse to mean that if they, happen to come before the year, then, even though the full year may not have elapsed since the last offering was made, yet they are to receive the offering. Hut others hold that the honouring here prescribed is an annual function; and not as often as they may come; and under this view, the mere fact of their coming before the year is entirely out cannot be an obstacle to the honour being offered.

Another reading is ‘parisamvatsarāt;’ which means that the honour is to be held in abeyance for a year; after that they should be honoured.—(119)