'Atithidevo bhava'

'matrudevo bhava, pitrudevo bhava, acharyadevo bhava, atithidevo bhava' 

 Meaning: Be a person for whom mother (matru), father (pitru), teacher (acharya) and guest (atithi) are akin to God (devo).

In an earlier post we had talked about how, in India, teacher is looked upon as God. The focus of today's post is 'atithi'.

The Indian tradition of warm hospitality probably stems from this mantra: atithidevo bhava.

'Tithi' means date and 'atithi' means having no set date. Hence the word 'Atithi' is also used as a synonym for unexpected guest, one who has no set date for arrival, who may just show up at your door unannounced. Hindus believe that such a guest, or any guest, in the home is like God visiting and hence must be treated with respect and welcomed whole-heartedly by all in the family.

I remember discussing this in Bal-vihar class one day. A few days later my friend came to pick-up my then eight year old daughter in her car. Her two sons were seated in the back seat and one of them would not move to make room for her. My daughter said to him,  "Don't you know that guest is like God? I am your guest today so you should welcome me!"  Point taken. She was promptly seated!

The point of sharing this anecdote with you is that, when we share with our children little snippets about Indian culture, formally or informally, they do internalize it ( or at least parts of it!) even if they look like they are not listening! 

Aren't most traditions passed on this way, through word of mouth and by example? I would love to hear your thoughts about this!

Meera Sharma

hindushlokasforkids.blogspot.com