Shloka 226
सत्र॑ समापयामास ऋत्विग्भिरपरै: सह । दीर्घकालतक आहुति देते-देते वे सभी खिन्न हो गये थे। इसलिये राजाको छोड़कर चले गये। तब राजाने उन ऋत्विजोंको पुनः यज्ञके लिये प्रेरित किया। परंतु जिनके नेत्र दुखने लगे थे, वे ऋत्विज उनके यज्ञमें नहीं आये। तब राजाने उनकी अनुमति लेकर दूसरे ब्राह्गोंको ऋत्विज बनाया और उन्हींके साथ अपने चालू किये हुए यज्ञको पूरा किया
satraṃ samāpayāmāsa ṛtvigbhir aparaiḥ saha | dīrghakālatakā āhutīḥ dadatāṃ dadatāṃ te sarve khinnā abhavan | tasmāt rājānaṃ tyaktvā jagmuḥ | tataḥ rājā tān ṛtvijaḥ punar yajñāya prārayat | kintu yeṣāṃ netrāṇi duḥkhitāni (duḥkham āpannāni) āsan te tasya yajñe nāgacchan | atha rājā teṣāṃ anumatiṃ gṛhītvā anyān brāhmaṇān ṛtvijaḥ kṛtvā taiḥ saha pravṛttaṃ yajñaṃ samāpayāmāsa ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: The king brought his sacrificial session to completion with other officiating priests. For a long time they had been continually offering oblations, and all of them became exhausted; therefore they left the king and departed. The king then urged those priests again to continue the sacrifice, but the priests whose eyes had begun to ache did not return to his rite. Taking their consent, the king appointed other Brahmins as priests and, together with them, completed the sacrifice that had already been set in motion. Ethically, the passage highlights the balance between perseverance in vowed ritual duty and humane recognition of the limits of the officiants, resolved through consent and proper substitution rather than coercion.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual commitment should be upheld without violating ethical norms: when officiants are genuinely unable to continue, the rite may proceed through proper consent and qualified substitution rather than pressure or impropriety.
During a long sacrificial session, the priests become exhausted and leave. The king tries to bring them back, but some cannot return due to eye pain. With their permission, he appoints other Brahmin priests and completes the ongoing sacrifice.