History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c27.2

v2.c27.2

*Madhuparka:* (offering of honey by way of honour to a distinguished guest). The word literally means 'a ceremony in which honey is shed or poured' (on the hand of a person). The word occurs in the Jaiminīya Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa¹²⁵³ 18. 4. The Nirukta (I. 16) also refers to the usage of offering madhuparka with the word madhuparka repeated thrice. It appears that the Ait. Br. III. 4 when it says that 'if the ruler of men comes as a guest or any one else deserving of honour comes, people kill a bull or a cow (that has contracted a habit of abortion)' refers to Madhuparka,¹²⁵⁴ though that word is not actually used. In all gṛhya sūtras it is described at length. Most of the details are the same, the principal difference being that often different mantras are prescribed, though some (like the verse 'mātā rudrāṇām') are the same. The ·madhuparka¹²⁵⁵ is offered to *ṛtviks* (priests officiating at sacrifices) when they are chosen for a sacrifice, to a snātaka who has come to one's house, to the king (who rules one's country, when he comes to one's house), to one's ācārya, father-in-law, paternal and maternal uncles. The Mānava gṛ. (I. 9. 1), Khādira gṛ. IV. 4. 21, Yāj. I. 110 say that six persons deserve arghya (madhuparka) viz. ṛtvik, ācārya, the bride-groom, the king, the snātaka and a person who is dear to one. Some like Baud.¹²⁵⁶ gṛ. I. 2. 65 add 'atithi' (guest). *Vide* Gaut. V. 25, Āp. gṛ. 13. 19-20, Āp. Dh. S. II. 3. 8. 5-6, Baud. Dh. S. II. 3. 63-64, Manu III. 119, Sabhāparva 36. 23-24, Gobhila gṛ. IV. 10. 23-24. It is laid down that if the persons enumerated come to one's house within a year after madhuparka has been once offered, then it need not be offered again (in the same year), but when a marriage is being celebrated in one's house or a *yajña* is being performed, then madhuparka must be offered to those persons (even if one year has not elapsed since the madhuparka was previously offered). Vide Gaut. V. 26-27, Āp. Dh. S. II. 3. 8. 6, Yāj. I. 110, Khādira gṛ. IV. 4. 26, Gobhila gṛ. IV. 10. 26. *Ṛtviks* are to be honoured in each yajña, even though several yajñas are performed in the same year (Yāj. I. 110). Manu (III. 120) says that a king and a snātaka are to be honoured with madhuparka only when they visit one's house in a yajña. Viśvarūpa (on Yāj. I. 109) says that madhuparka is to be offered to the king only and not to any kṣatriya. Medhātithi on Manu III. 119 says that when a king, whether a kṣatriya or not, comes to one's place madhuparka was to be offered, but not to a śūdra king. According to gṛhya-pariśiṣṭa the madhuparka is to be performed according to the rites prescribed in the śākhā of the receiver and not of the giver.¹²⁵⁷