Shloka 16
एकमन्त्रास्तु ते सर्वे येनेशो न निमन्त्रित: । ऐसा कहकर महायोगी दधीचिने जब ध्यान लगाकर देखा, तब उन्हें भगवान् शंकर और मंगलमयी वरदायिनी देवी पार्वतीजीका दर्शन हुआ। उनके पास ही महात्मा नारदजी भी दिखायी दिये, इससे उनको बड़ा संतोष हुआ। योगवेत्ता दधीचिको यह निश्चय हो गया कि ये सब देवता एकमत हो गये हैं। इसीलिये इन्होंने महेश्वरको यहाँ निमन्त्रित नहीं किया है ।। तस्माद् देशादपक्रम्य दधीचिर्वाक्यमब्रवीत्,यह बात ध्यानमें आते ही दधीचि यज्ञशालासे अलग हो गये और दूर जाकर कहने लगे --'सज्जनो! अपूजनीय पुरुषकी पूजा करनेसे और पूजनीय महापुरुषकी पूजा न करनेसे मनुष्य सदा ही नरहत्याके समान पापका भागी होता है
ekamantrāstu te sarve yenēśo na nimantritaḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: “All of them are acting with a single resolve; for that very reason Maheśvara (Śiva), the Lord, has not been invited here.” Saying this, the great yogin Dadhīci entered meditation and beheld Lord Śaṅkara together with the auspicious, boon-giving Goddess Pārvatī; near them he also saw the great sage Nārada, and he felt deep satisfaction. Dadhīci, skilled in yoga, became certain that the gods had formed a unanimous plan—hence they had not invited Maheśvara here. Realizing this, he withdrew from that place, stepped away from the sacrificial hall, and, going to a distance, declared: “Good people! By honoring one who is not worthy of honor, and by failing to honor a truly worthy great person, a man ever becomes a sharer in sin equal to the killing of a human being.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
One must discern worthiness in honoring: worshiping the unworthy and neglecting the truly worthy is presented as a grave ethical failure, likened to the sin of human-killing. Proper reverence is part of dharma.
Dadhīci meditates and gains a divine vision of Śiva with Pārvatī and also Nārada. From this he concludes the gods are acting in concert and have deliberately not invited Śiva. He then steps away from the sacrificial area and publicly warns about the serious sin of misdirected or withheld honor.