The Upaniṣads / Kaṭha / 1.7 The guest
1.7
वैश्वानरः प्रविशति अतिथिर् ब्राह्मणो गृहान् ।
तस्यैतां शान्तिं कुर्वन्ति हर वैवस्वतोदकम् vaiśvānaraḥ praviśati atithir brāhmaṇo gṛhān |
tasyaitāṃ śāntiṃ kurvanti hara vaivasvatodakam
The line
A guest, a Brahmin, enters the houses as vaiśvānara (वैश्वानर). For him they make this peace. Bring water, son of Vivasvat (विवस्वत्).
नेपालीमा
पाहुना, ब्राह्मण, वैश्वानर भएर घरहरूमा पस्छ। तिनका लागि उनीहरू यो शान्ति गर्छन्, हे विवस्वत्का पुत्र, पानी ल्याउनुहोस्।
Where it sits
He has arrived, and the host is not there. The next mantra says what a man loses when a Brahmin sits in his house unfed. Vaiśvānara (वैश्वानर) here is the guest-fire, not yet the waking foot of the Māṇḍūkya (माण्डूक्य).
Split: vaiśvānaraḥ (वैश्वानरः) + praviśati (प्रविशति) + atithiḥ (अतिथिः) + brāhmaṇaḥ (ब्राह्मणः) + gṛhān (गृहान्) + tasya (तस्य) + etām (एताम्) + śāntim (शान्तिम्) + kurvanti (कुर्वन्ति) + hara (हर) + vaivasvata (वैवस्वत) + udakam (उदकम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| vaiśvānaraḥ (वैश्वानरः) | nominative singular, masculine | The fire common to all persons. Here a name for the guest who must be fed. Heard vaiśvānaraḥ (वैश्वानरः). |
| praviśati (प्रविशति) | present, third person singular | He enters. |
| atithiḥ (अतिथिः) | nominative singular, masculine | A guest. Heard atithir (अतिथिर्) before brāhmaṇaḥ (ब्राह्मणः). |
| brāhmaṇaḥ (ब्राह्मणः) | nominative singular, masculine | A Brahmin. Heard brāhmaṇo (ब्राह्मणो) before gṛhān (गृहान्). |
| gṛhān (गृहान्) | accusative plural, masculine | Houses. |
| tasya (तस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | For him. Joins etām (एताम्): tasyaitām (तस्यैताम्). |
| etām (एताम्) | accusative singular, feminine | This. Agrees with śāntim (शान्तिम्). Heard etāṃ (एतां). |
| śāntim (शान्तिम्) | accusative singular, feminine | Peace, the appeasing. Heard śāntiṃ (शान्तिं). |
| kurvanti (कुर्वन्ति) | present, third person plural | They make. |
| hara (हर) | imperative, second person singular | Bring. Take. |
| vaivasvata (वैवस्वत) | vocative, or stem in compound | O son of Vivasvat (विवस्वत्). A name of Yama (यम). In the compound vaivasvata-udakam (वैवस्वत-उदकम्). |
| udakam (उदकम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Water. Heard vaivasvatodakam (वैवस्वतोदकम्). |
The phrases
A rule about a guest, then a command to bring water. The vocative is Death, spoken as if the house already knows the rule. The boy is quoting what a host owes.
Sanskrit in this line
Atithiḥ (अतिथिः) before brāhmaṇaḥ (ब्राह्मणः) is atithir (अतिथिर्). A visarga before a voiced consonant, after i (इ), is heard as r (र्). Tasya (तस्य) plus etām (एताम्) is tasyaitām (तस्यैताम्).
Say it back
Say what the host is told to bring.