Shloka 23
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
प्राजापत्यमदत्त्वाश्चमग्न्याधेयस्य दक्षिणाम् । अनाहिताग्निरिति स प्रोच्यते धर्मदर्शिभि:,जो अग्निहोत्र आरम्भ करके प्रजापति देवताके लिये अश्वरूप दक्षिणाका दान नहीं करता, धर्मदर्शी पुरुष उसे अनाहिताग्नि कहते- हैं
prājāpatyam adattvāś ca agnyādheyasya dakṣiṇām | anāhitāgnir iti sa procyate dharmadarśibhiḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: Sesiapa yang memulakan upacara Agnyādhāna (penetapan api suci) tetapi tidak menyerahkan dakṣiṇā yang ditetapkan bagi Prajāpati—yakni dakṣiṇā berbentuk kuda—maka menurut mereka yang benar-benar melihat dharma, dia disebut ‘anāhitāgni’ (orang yang belum menegakkan api dengan sempurna).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual acts are incomplete without fulfilling their prescribed obligations—especially the proper dakṣiṇā. Merely lighting or commencing the sacred-fire rite does not confer the status of an ‘āhitāgni’ unless the rite is completed in accordance with dharma.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma in the Śānti Parva, he defines a normative standard: a person who starts Agnyādhāna but withholds the Prajāpati-related dakṣiṇā is judged by dharma-knowers as effectively ‘not having established the fires’ (anāhitāgni).