📿 Shloka Collection

Vidhiheenam Asrishtannam

Gita 17.13 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17 — Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
विधिहीनमसृष्टान्नं मन्त्रहीनमदक्षिणम् ।
श्रद्धाविरहितं यज्ञं तामसं परिचक्षते ॥
Vidhiheenam asrishtannam mantraheenam adakshinam,
Shraddhavirahitam yajnam tamasam parichakshate.
विधिहीनम्
without proper method
असृष्टान्नम्
without distribution of food
मन्त्रहीनम्
without mantras
अदक्षिणम्
without dakshina (offering to the priest)
श्रद्धाविरहितम्
devoid of faith
यज्ञम्
sacrifice
तामसम्
tamasic
परिचक्षते
is called

A tamasic sacrifice is missing everything that matters. No proper procedure. No food offered to others. No mantras chanted. No dakshina given. And worst of all — no faith behind it. Such a ritual, Krishna says, is called tamasic.

Every essential element is absent. There is no method, no devotion, no generosity, no surrender. It is an empty shell of ritual — done mechanically, done because someone said to do it, or done out of obligation with zero feeling.

Among all the deficiencies Krishna lists, the most critical is "shraddha-virahitam" — the absence of faith. Without faith, no amount of correct procedure can redeem a sacrifice. Faith is the root; everything else is a branch.

This shloka completes the sacrifice classification. Shlokas 17.11 (sattvic), 17.12 (rajasic), and 17.13 (tamasic) together present the full framework. Starting from the next shloka, Krishna turns to the three dimensions of austerity — bodily, verbal, and mental.

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