Shloka 13
Abhimanyu’s Assault on Bhīṣma’s Screen; Banner-Felling and Reinforcements (सौभद्र-भीष्म-समरः)
विधिहीनमसृष्टान्नं5 मन्त्रहीनमदक्षिणम्ः | श्रद्धाविरहितं यज्ञ तामसं परिचक्षते
vidhihīnam asṛṣṭānnaṃ mantrahīnam adakṣiṇam | śraddhāvirahitaṃ yajñaṃ tāmasaṃ paricakṣate ||
जो यज्ञ शास्त्रविधीविना, अन्न-वितरणाविना, मंत्राविना, दक्षिणेविना आणि श्रद्धेविना केला जातो, तो तामस यज्ञ म्हणतात.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual action is ethically meaningful only when grounded in śāstric procedure, proper offering and sharing, mantric sanctification, fair recompense (dakṣiṇā), and sincere faith. When these are absent, the act becomes tāmasika—an empty or deluded performance rather than dharmic worship.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s teaching context, Arjuna is being instructed about right conduct and the qualities (guṇas) that color human actions. This verse classifies a certain kind of sacrifice as tāmasika by listing the concrete deficiencies that make it spiritually and ethically flawed.