20. Greeting
i. General
Āpastamba
मातरि पितर्य् आचार्यवत्शुश्रूषा ॥6 समावृत्तेन सर्वे गुरव उपसंग्राह्याः ॥7 प्रोष्य च समागमे ॥8 भ्रातृषु भगिनीषु च यथापूर्वम् उपसंग्रहणम् ॥9 नित्या च पूजा यथाउपदेशम् ॥10 ऋत्विक्श्वशुरपितृव्यमातुलान् अवरवयसः प्रत्युत्थायअभिवदेत् ॥11 तूष्णीं वाउपसंगृह्णीयात् ॥12 दशवर्षं पौरसख्यं पञ्चवर्षं तु चारणम् त्रिवर्षपूर्वः श्रोत्रियः अभिवादनम् अर्हति ॥13 ज्ञायमाने वयोविशेषे वृद्धतरायअभिवाद्यम् ॥14 विषमगतायअगुरवे नअभिवाद्यम् ॥15 अन्वारुह्य वाअभिवादयीत ॥16 सर्वत्र तु प्रत्युत्थायअभिवादनम् ॥17 अप्रयतेन नअभिवाद्यम् ॥18 तथाअप्रयताय ॥19 अप्रयतश् च न प्रत्यभिवदेत् ॥20 पतिवयसः स्त्रियः ॥21 न सौपानह्वेष्टितशिरा अवहितपाणिर् वाअभिवादयीत ॥22 सर्वनाम्ना स्त्रियो राजन्यवैश्यौ च न नाम्ना ॥23 मातरम् आचार्यदारं चैत्य् एके ॥24 दशवर्षश् च ब्राह्मणः शतवर्षश् च क्षत्रियः पितापुत्रौ स्म तौ विद्धि तयोः तु ब्राह्मणः पिता ॥25 कुशलम् अवरवयसं वयस्यं वा पृच्छेत् ॥26 अनामयं क्षत्रियम् ॥27 अनष्टं वैश्यम् ॥28 आरोग्यं शूद्रम् ॥29 नअसंभाष्य श्रोत्रियं व्यतिव्रजेत् ॥30 अरण्ये च स्त्रियम् ॥31
6 To his mother and father he should show the same obedience as to his teacher. 7 A student who has returned home should clasp the feet of all his elders; 8 he should do so when he returns from a journey as well. 9 He should also clasp the feet of his brothers and sisters according to seniority. 10 He should pay them homage, moreover, in the prescribed manner. 11 He should rise up and greet an officiating priest, a father-in-law, or a paternal or maternal uncle who is younger than himself, 12 or he may silently clasp his feet. 13 A fellow citizen who has been a friend for ten years, a fellow student who has been a friend for five years, and a vedic scholar known for three years deserve to be greeted. 14 If the relative ages of the persons are known, he should greet the older ones first. 15 When a person other than an elder is standing at a different level than himself, it is not necessary to greet him, 16 or he may greet him after climbing up or down to the same level as that person. 17 In every case, however, he should rise up before offering his greetings. 18 He should not offer greetings when he is impure 19 or to a person who is impure; 20 neither should he return a greeting when he is impure. 21 Wives should be greeted according to the age of their husbands. 22 He should never greet anyone with his shoes on, or with his head covered, or carrying anything in the hand. 23 In greeting women, Kṣatriyas, or Vaiśyas, he should use a pronoun and not his personal name. 24 Some maintain that he should do so also when he greets his mother or his teacher's wife. 25 A 10-year-old Brahmin and a 100-year-old Kṣatriya, you should know, stand with respect to each other as a father to a son. But of the two, the Brahmin is the father! 26 He should ask a person who is younger or of the same age whether he is doing well, 27 a Kṣatriya whether he is in good shape, 28 a Vaiśya whether his property is unharmed, 29 and a Sūdra whether he is in good health. 30 Let him not pass by a vedic scholar without talking to him, 31 and likewise a woman in the wilderness. [A 1.14.6–31]
उपासने गुरूणां वृद्धानाम् अतिथीनां होमे जप्यकर्मणि भोजन आचमने स्वाध्याये च यज्ञोपवीती स्यात् ॥1
"When he is paying his respects to elders, the aged, and guests; when he is offering sacrifices and softly reciting prayers; and when he is eating, sipping water, and reciting his Veda, he should wear his upper garment over his left shoulder and under his right arm. [A 1.15.1]
दक्षिणम् बाहुं श्रोत्रसमं ब्राह्मणो ऽउरःसमं राजन्यो मध्यसमं वैश्यो नीचैः शूद्रः प्रञ्जलिम् ॥16 प्लावनं च नाम्नो ऽअभिवादनप्रत्यभिवादने च पूर्वेषां वर्णानाम् ॥17
16 With joined hands, let a Brahmin greet by stretching his right hand level with his ears, a Kṣatriya level with his chest, a Vaiśya level with his waist, and a Śūdra very low. 17 When returning the greetings of a person belonging to one of the higher classes, the last syllable of his name should be lengthened to three morae. [A 1.5.16–17]
पूजा वर्णज्यायसां कार्या , वृद्धतराणां च ॥2–3 हृष्टो दर्पति दृप्तो धर्मम् अतिक्रामति धर्मअतिक्रमे खलु पुनर् नरकः ॥4
2 One should pay homage to people of higher classes 3 and to those who are older. 4 When a man is elated, he becomes proud; when he is proud, he violates the Law; and when the Law is violated, of course, he goes to hell once again. [A 1.13.2–4]
Gautama
पादोपसम्ग्रहणं समवाये ऽन्वहम् । ॥2 अभिगम्य तु विप्रोष्य । ॥2 मातृपितृतद्बन्धूनां पूर्वजानां विद्यागुरूणांतद्गुरूणां च । ॥3 संनिपाते परस्य । ॥4 स्वनाम प्रोच्याहमयम् इत्य् अभिवादोज्ञसमवाये । ॥5 स्त्रीपुंयोगे ऽभिवादतो ऽनियमम् एके । ॥6 नाविप्रोष्य स्त्रीणाम् अमातृपितृव्यभार्याभगिनीनाम् । ॥7 नोपसंग्रहणं भ्रातृभार्याणां स्वसृऋणाम् । ॥8 ऋत्विक्छ्वशुरपितृव्यमातुलानां तु यवीयसांप्रत्युत्थानम् अभिवाद्याः । ॥9 तथान्यः पूर्वः पौरो ऽशीतिकावरःशूद्रो ऽप्य् अपत्यसमेन । ॥10 अवरो ऽप्य् आर्यः शूद्रेण । ॥11 नाम वास्य वर्जयेत् । ॥12 राज्ञश् चाजपः प्रेष्यः । ॥13 भो भवन्न् इति वयस्यः समाने ऽहनि जातः । ॥14 दशवर्शवृद्धः पौरः । ॥15 पञ्चभिःकलाभरः । ॥16 श्रोत्रियश् चारणः त्रिभिः । ॥17 राजन्यवैश्यकर्मा विद्याहीनाः । ॥18 दीक्षितश् च प्राक् क्रयात् । ॥19
1–3 His mother and father, their relations, his older brothers, his teachers, and their teachers-each day when he meets them he should clasp their feet, as also when he returns from a journey. 4 When he meets several of them together, he should first clasp the feet of the one who is most superior. 5 When he meets a knowledgeable person, he should greet him by stating his own name and saying, "I am so-and-so". 6 Some say that there is no restrictive rule about salutation between husband and wife. 7 Except upon returning from a journey, there is no need to greet women other than his mother, paternal uncle's wife, and his sisters; 8 nor should he clasp the feet of his brothers' wives or his mother-in-law. 9 In the case of an officiating priest, a father-in-law, or a paternal or maternal uncle who is younger than himself, on the other hand, he should rise up to receive him but there is no need to offer a formal greeting. 10 An aged fellow townsman or even an 80-year-old Śūdra should be treated in the same way by a man young enough to be his son, as also an Arya even younger than himself, by a Sūdra. 12 Such a person, moreover, should refrain from saying the other's name, 13 as also a royal officer who has not studied the Veda, the name of the king. WA friend born on the same day as oneself should be addressed "Mister!" or "Sir!", 15 as also a fellow townsman ten years older than oneself; 16 an artist five years older; 17 a vedic scholar of one's own vedic branch who is three years older; 18 an ignorant Brahmin following the occupations of a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya; 19 and a man consecrated for a sacrifice before the purchase of Soma. [G 6.1–19]
Baudhāyana
समिद्धारीउदकुम्भपुष्पअन्नहस्तो नअभिवादयेद् यच्चअन्यद् अप्य् एवंयुक्तम् ॥31 न समवायेअभिवादयेद् अत्यन्तशः ॥32
31 He should not greet anyone while he is carrying firewood, holding a water pot, flowers, or food in his hand, or engaged in other similar activities. 32 When he meets someone, he should not greet him in an exaggerated way. [B 1.3.31–2]
ऋत्विज्श्वशुरपितृव्यमातुलानां तु यवीयसांप्रत्युत्थायअभिभाषणम् ॥45 प्रत्यभिवाद इति कात्यः ॥46 शिशाव् आङ्गिरसे दर्शनात् ॥47
45 He should, however, only rise up and greet an officiating priest, a father-in-law, or a paternal or a maternal uncle who is younger than he. 46 Katya states that these persons should return the greeting, 47 because this rule is illustrated in the story of the young Angirasa. [B 1.3.45–7]
Vasiṣṭha
ऋत्विज्श्वशुरपितृव्यमातुलान् अनवरवयसस्प्रत्युत्थायअभिवदेत् ॥41 ये चएव पादग्राह्याः तेषाम्भार्या गुरोस्च ॥42 मातापितरौ च ॥43 यस्विद्यातभिवदितुम् अहम् अयम्भो इति यात् ॥44 यस्च न विद्यात् ॥45 प्रत्यभिवादम् आमन्त्रिते स्वरसन्त्यस्प्लवते सन्धिअक्षरम् अप्रगृह्यम् आयआवभावम्चआपद्यते यथा भो भाव् इति ॥46
41 He should rise up and greet an officiating priest, a father-in-law, or a paternal or maternal uncle who is not younger than himself; 42 the wives of those whose feet he is obliged to clasp and of his teacher; 43 and his parents. 4 To a person who knows how to greet, he should say, "I am so-and-so, sir!" 45 as also to a person who does not know. 46 When returning a greeting, he should lengthen the last vowel of the name of the person he is greeting to three morae. If it is a diphthong "e" or "o" subject to euphonic combination, it is pronounced "ai" and "au"; "bho" thus becomes "bhau". [Va 13.41–6]
विद्यावित्तवयस्संबन्धास्कर्म च मान्यम् ॥56 पूर्वस्पूर्वस्गरीयान् ॥57 स्थविरबालअतुरभारिकस्त्रीचक्रीवगताम्पन्थास्समागमे परस्मैपरस्मै देयः ॥58 राजस्नातकयोस्समागमे राज्ञा स्नातकाय देयः ॥59 सर्वैसेव वध्वैऊह्यमानायै ॥60
56 Knowledge, wealth, age, kinship, and occupation are deserving of respect, 57 each preceding one being more respectable than the one that follows. [Va 13.56–7]