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Adhyāyas / Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga Yogaḥ / verse 13

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
विधिहीनमसृष्टान्नं मन्त्रहीनमदक्षिणम्। श्रद्धाविरहितं यज्ञं तामसं परिचक्षते
vidhi-hīnam asṛiṣhṭānnaṁ mantra-hīnam adakṣhiṇam śhraddhā-virahitaṁ yajñaṁ tāmasaṁ parichakṣhate
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

They declare that sacrifice as 'done through tamas' which is contrary to injunction, in which no food is distributed, in which no mantras are used, in which no offerings are made to priests, and which is devoid of faith.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

शास्त्रविधि से रहित, अन्नदान से रहित, बिना मन्त्रों, बिना दक्षिणा और बिना श्रद्धा के किये हुए यज्ञ को तामस यज्ञ कहते हैं।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
विधि हीनम सृष् टान्नम्
मन् त्रहीनम दक् षिणम्
श्रद् धा विरहितँय् यज्ञम्
तामसम् परिचक् षते
॥ १३ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
vidhi-hīnamwithout scriptural direction
asṛiṣhṭa-annamwithout distribution of prasādam
mantra-hīnamwith no chanting of the Vedic hymns
adakṣhiṇamwith no remunerations to the priests
śhraddhāfaith
virahitamwithout
yajñamsacrifice
tāmasamin the mode of ignorance
parichakṣhateis to be considered

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
17.3–17.13Faith, food and sacrifice classified.

“As is a man’s faith, so verily is he (śraddhā-mayo’yaṃ puruṣaḥ): what his faith is, that he is” (17.3) — one of the Gītā’s most quoted lines, and a whole psychology in seven words. K then applies the threefold analysis: the object of worship (17.4) — the sattvic worship the devas (the higher, ordering powers); the rajasic, the yakṣas and rakṣas (powers of wealth and force); the tamasic, ghosts and spirits (the dark and confused). Food (17.8–10) — the sattvic prefer foods that promote life, strength, health, cheer — savoury, wholesome, nourishing; the rajasic crave the bitter, sour, salty, burning-hot, harsh, which breed pain and disease; the tamasic take the stale, tasteless, putrid, left-over and impure. Sacrifice (17.11–13) — the sattvic offer as duty, without desire for fruit, according to the ordinance; the rajasic offer for show and with an eye to reward; the tamasic offer without faith, without gifts, without sacred word or rule. Note how the analysis reaches even to the plate: the Gītā takes seriously that what we eat shapes the mind that worships (recall “what we eat, we become”, 3.12). Spirituality here is not walled off from diet, motive and manner; the guṇa pervades the whole.