अतिथिदेवो भव — atithidevo bhava

We are taught अतिथिदेवो भव (atithidevo bhava), ‘treat the guest as God’. And we always treat someone else as the atithi. But is atithi a guest, a stranger? Most of us are familiar with the etymology of the word ‘atithi’ as the one (known or unknown) who arrives without any prior notice (अ meaning ‘no’ + तिथि meaning ‘ a fixed day’). This confirms the meaning of the atithi as a guest/stranger.

While going through a Mantra in Yajurveda (3.1) a very different meaning of atithi was revealed to me. The Mantra is:

समिधाग्निं दुवस्यत घृतैर्बोधयतातिथिम्।
आस्मिन् हव्या जुहोतन स्वाहा। इदमग्नये इदन्न मम॥
samidhāgniṁ duvasyata ghṛtairbodhayatātithim|
āsmin havyā juhotana svāhā| idamagnaye idanna mama||

The Mantra, in general, says: Worship the agni, the atithi, with samit, aflame it with ghee, and offer all havish into it. This all is for Agni and not mine.

As I contemplated on this Mantra, deeper meanings of many words here got revealed. Here, the word ‘atithi’ is used as an epithet of Agni. If we accept the usual interpretation of the word as ‘one who visits without prior information’, it does not give any clarity. The word ‘atithi’ in its root sense means one who is an eternal traveler. In this sense the word ‘atithi’ is derived from the root-soud अत् ‘at’ meaning to move constantly, combined with the suffix इथिन् ithin (अतति सततं गच्छति इति अतिथिः atati satataṁ gacchati iti atithiḥ). In fact, this is the root-sound from which the word आत्मन् ātman is derived (अत् at + मनिन् manin). The ātman is a constant or eternal traveler which, gathering experiences, keeps traveling from life to life, taking different forms/bodies (अतति सततं गच्छति देहात् देहान्तरम् इति आत्मन् atati satataṁ gacchati dehāt dehāntaram iti ātman). So the ātman and atithi are synonymous. And the ātman, as seen by the realised ones, is a pure flame shining at the center of every human being (अङ्गुष्ठमात्रपुरुषः ज्योतिरिवाधूमकः aṅguṣṭhamātrapuruṣaḥ jyotirivādhūmakaḥ).

So the inner meaning of the Mantra is that one must adore this AtmAgni, this atithi, by offering the action and fruits of actions of one’s mind, life and body. One must aflame it by the pure luster of the mind which is symbolised by the word ghṛta. The offering becomes complete when there is no sense of kartritva or doership and ownership. Therefore at the end it is said: all this belongs to the agni, the atithi, the Atman and not for me, the ego-self.

It’s indeed great to carry this sense always that one is an atithi, a constant traveler on the path of progress, and to treat oneself as the Divine. I remember a story which goes like this: Once a stranger goes to see a spiritual master and finding no furniture or any other belongings in his room, asks: ‘where are your furniture and other belongings’. Hearing this, the master questions him back — ‘where are yours? ‘Mine! but, I am a guest here’ — said the stranger. Then the master said to him: ‘do you think I am not.’

While contemplating on the Mantra, I felt that the inner meaning of अतिथिदेवो भव (atithidevo bhava) is much deeper than what we usually understand.