Shloka 22
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
नरकं निपतन्त्येते जुह्नाना: स च यस्य तत् | तस्माद् वैतानकुशलो होता स्याद् वेदपारग:
narakaṁ nipatanty ete juhvānāḥ sa ca yasya tat | tasmād vaitāna-kuśalo hotā syād veda-pāragaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “These men who offer oblations (without proper competence) fall into hell—and the one for whom that sacrifice is performed also falls. Therefore, only a priest who is skilled in the Vedic sacrificial procedure and has mastered the Vedas should serve as the hotṛ.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual acts are ethically weighty and must be performed by qualified, Veda-trained specialists; otherwise the karmic fault harms both the officiant and the patron of the sacrifice.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he warns about the dangers of unqualified performance of Vedic rites and insists that only a competent Hotṛ, trained in Śrauta procedure and grounded in the Vedas, should officiate.