Shloka 12
Abhimanyu’s Assault on Bhīṣma’s Screen; Banner-Felling and Reinforcements (सौभद्र-भीष्म-समरः)
जो शास्त्रविधिसे नियत, यज्ञ करना ही कर्तव्य है--इस प्रकार मनको समाधान करके, फल न चाहनेवाले पुरुषोंद्वारा किया जाता है, वह सात्तविक है ।। अभिसंधाय तु फल दम्भार्थमपि चैव यत् । इज्यते भरतश्रेष्ठ तं यज्ञ विद्धि राजसम्,परंतु हे अर्जुन! केवल दम्भाचरणके लिये अथवा फलको भी दृष्टिमें रखकर जो यज्ञ किया जाता है, उस यज्ञको तू राजस जानडरें
abhisaṃdhāya tu phalaṃ dambhārtham api caiva yat | ijyate bharataśreṣṭha taṃ yajñaṃ viddhi rājasam ||
But, O best of the Bharatas, the sacrifice that is performed with an eye on its reward—and even for the sake of display and self-advertisement—know that sacrifice to be of the rājasa (passionate) kind. Ethically, it is outwardly religious yet inwardly driven by craving for results and social recognition, and therefore lacks the purity of selfless duty.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A sacrifice is judged not only by correct performance but by intention: when it is done for reward (phala) or for show (dambha), it becomes rājasa—driven by desire and ego—rather than a pure act of duty.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s instructional setting, a teaching is being given to Arjuna distinguishing types of sacrifice by the three guṇas; this verse identifies the rājasa sacrifice as one motivated by results and ostentation.