India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s9.11

c8.s9.11

Pāṇini also refers to the old Vedic god Vāstoshpati (IV.2.32), the presiding deity of *vāstu* or homestead. Two older words, *kshaya*, 'abode' (VI.1.201) and *āvasatha* (V.4.23), are also mentioned. The precise sense of *āvasatha* appears to be a place for the reception of guests, especially Brāhmaṇas and others on the occasion of feasts and sacrifices (*Vedic Index*, I.66). According to Pāṇini: 'One who lives in an *āvasatha* is called *āvasathika*' (IV.4.74). The religious guest-house was identical with that part of a householder's dwelling in which the household fire (*āvasathya agni*) was established.¹