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Vishnupurana 3.11.68

Viṣṇupurāṇa 3.11.68

Language
Sanskrit

3.11.68

atithir yasya bhagnāśo gṛhād yāty anyatomukhaḥ
sa dattvā duṣkṛtaṃ tasmai puṇyam ādāya gacchati //

"A householder should also at the perpetual Śráddha entertain another Brahman, who is of his own country, whose family and observances are known, and who performs the five sacramental rites. He is likewise to present to a Brahman learned in the Vedas four handfulls of food, set apart with the exclamation Hanta; and he is to give to a mendicant religious student three handfulls of rice, or according to his pleasure when he has ample means. These, with the addition of the mendicant before described, are to be considered as guests; and he who treats these four descriptions of persons with hospitality acquits himself of the debt due to his fellow men. The guest who departs disappointed from any house, and proceeds elsewhere, transfers his sins to the owner of that mansion, and takes away with him such a householder's merits. Brahmá, Prajápati, Indra, fire, the Vasus, the sun, are present in the person of a guest, and partake of the food that is given to him. Let a man therefore be assiduous in discharging the duties of hospitality; for he who eats his food without bestowing any upon a guest feeds only upon iniquity.

Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition

Translations (2)

Other recensions (1)