Shloka 10
Viṣṇor Māhātmya and Indriya-saṃyama (विष्णोर्माहात्म्यं तथा इन्द्रियसंयमः)
यदि मन्त्राड्हीनो5यं यज्ञों भवति वै कृत: । मां भो: प्रक्षिप होत्रे त्वं गच्छ स्वर्गमनिन्दित:
nārada uvāca |
yadi mantrāḍhīno 'yaṃ yajño bhavati vai kṛtaḥ |
māṃ bhoḥ prakṣipa hotre tvaṃ gaccha svargam aninditaḥ ||
Nārada said: “If this sacrifice, though performed, is deficient in its mantras and requisite limbs, it becomes a wrongful act for the sacrificer. O venerable one, hand me over to the Hotṛ priest, and you—blameless—go to heaven.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ritual is not ethically neutral merely because it is performed; if it lacks the proper mantras and required components, it can turn into a fault (duṣkṛta) for the patron. Dharma here emphasizes correctness, responsibility, and the moral weight of ritual procedure.
Narada addresses a participant in a sacrificial context, warning that a mantra-deficient yajña harms the yajamāna. He instructs the person to consign Narada to the Hotṛ priest and then depart to Svarga without blame, implying a transfer of ritual handling to the proper officiant and the safeguarding of merit.