Shloka 15
Rudra’s Omitted Share in the Yajña (रुद्रभागानुपपत्तिः — यज्ञोपाख्यानम्)
अफक्रान्ते ततो यज्ञे संज्ञा न प्रत्यभात् सुरान् । नष्टसंज्ञेषु देवेषु न प्राज़्ायत किंचन
apakrānte tato yajñe saṃjñā na pratyabhāt surān | naṣṭasaṃjñeṣu deveṣu na prājāyata kiṃcana ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : Lorsque le sacrifice se retira et s’interrompit, la conscience ne brilla plus chez les dieux. Et quand les divinités eurent perdu connaissance, rien du tout ne pouvait naître ni être perçu par elles—signe que la rupture de l’ordre sacré rend inertes même les puissances célestes.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that yajña (sacred, ordered action) sustains clarity and functioning even at the divine level; when ritual order collapses or withdraws, awareness and effective agency also collapse, illustrating the ethical idea that dharma-maintaining acts uphold the world’s intelligibility and stability.
The narrator states that once the sacrifice ceased/withdrew, the gods’ consciousness no longer manifested; with their awareness lost, nothing could be perceived or occur for them—depicting a moment of ritual breakdown and its immediate cosmic effect.