India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s5.32

c8.s5.32

*GUESTS*—Hospitality (*ātithya*, V.4.26) to strangers and guests was a cardinal virtue of household life. The hospitable man is referred to as *ātitheya* (*atithau sādhuḥ*, IV.4.104). The *Gṛihya Sūtras* lay down detailed rules for honouring a guest on his first arrival. Pāṇini mentions *pādya* and *arghya* (V.4.25) in the order in which they were offered to a guest, although grammatically contravening his own rule II.2.33. He also borrows from the Vedic terminology the word *goghna*, *i.e.* one for whom a cow was dedicated (III.4.73). A distinguished guest like a king, a priest, a preceptor, or a respectable relation was considered worthy of this honour. All these persons are incidentally mentioned in a *sūtra* (VI.2.133).