Shloka 17
चितोअग्निरुद्धतन् यज्ञ पक्षाभ्यां तान् प्रबाधते । मन्त्रै: प्रशमिता होते नेष्टं मुष्णन्ति यज्ञियम्,मन्त्रद्वारा संस्कार करनेके पश्चात् प्रजजलित अग्निदेव जिस समय आहुति ग्रहण करते हुए यज्ञका सम्पादन करते हैं, उस समय वे अपने दोनों पंखों (पार्श्ववर्ती शिखाओं) द्वारा उन विनायकोंको कष्ट पहुँचाते हैं (इसीलिये वे उनके पास नहीं फटकते)। मन्त्रोंद्वारा शान्त कर देनेपर वे विनायक यज्ञसम्बन्धी हविष्यका अपहरण नहीं कर पाते हैं
cito 'gnir uddhataṁ yajña-pakṣābhyāṁ tān prabādhate | mantraiḥ praśamitā hote neṣṭaṁ muṣṇanti yajñiyam ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “When the sacrificial fire, once kindled and blazing, proceeds with the rite, it harasses those obstructing spirits with its two ‘wings’—the flanking tongues of flame. But when it is pacified through mantras, those Vināyakas are unable to steal the oblations meant for the sacrifice.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual order is safeguarded by disciplined mantra and properly kindled sacred fire: spiritual and psychological ‘obstacles’ cannot disrupt offerings when the rite is performed with correct consecration and recitation.
Mārkaṇḍeya explains that obstructing beings (Vināyakas) try to interfere with sacrifices by stealing offerings, but the blazing sacrificial fire—especially when appeased and regulated through mantras—drives them away so they cannot approach or seize the oblations.