17.13
विधिहीनमसृष्टान्नं मन्त्रहीनमदक्षिणम् ।
श्रद्धाविरहितं यज्ञं तामसं परिचक्षते ॥
vidhihīnam asṛṣṭānnaṃ mantrahīnam adakṣiṇam
śraddhāvirahitaṃ yajñaṃ tāmasaṃ paricakṣate
śrībhagavān (श्रीभगवान्) is still speaking. This is the sacrifice of the dark strand.
The verse
They call dark the sacrifice that is empty of the ordinance, with no food given out, empty of mantra (मन्त्र), without the priest's gift, and left by faith.
नेपालीमा
विधि नभएको, खाना नबाँडिएको, मन्त्र नभएको, पुरोहितको दान नभएको र श्रद्धाले छोडिएको यज्ञलाई उनीहरू अँध्यारो भन्छन्।
Where it sits
The three sacrifices are complete. Clear: offered because it is to be offered. Driving: fruit and show. Dark: the rite missing its pieces, and faith missing with them. Austerity is next, and he will first say what austerity of body, speech, and mind even is.
Split: विधि-हीनम् + अ-सृष्ट-अन्नम् + मन्त्र-हीनम् + अ-दक्षिणम् + श्रद्धा-विरहितम् + यज्ञम् + तामसम् + परिचक्षते
vidhi-hīnam + a-sṛṣṭa-annam + mantra-hīnam + a-dakṣiṇam + śraddhā-virahitam + yajñam + tāmasam + paricakṣate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| विधि-हीनम् | vidhi-hīnam | accusative singular | empty of the ordinance. hīna (हीन) "left without." |
| अ-सृष्ट-अन्नम् | a-sṛṣṭa-annam | accusative singular | in which food has not been given out. sṛṣṭa (सृष्ट) "poured, given," anna (अन्न) "food." |
| मन्त्र-हीनम् | mantra-hīnam | accusative singular | empty of mantra (मन्त्र). |
| अ-दक्षिणम् | a-dakṣiṇam | accusative singular | without the priest's gift. dakṣiṇā (दक्षिणा) is that gift. |
| श्रद्धा-विरहितम् | śraddhā-virahitam | accusative singular | left by faith. virahita (विरहित) "abandoned, without." |
| यज्ञम् | yajñam | accusative singular | the sacrifice. |
| तामसम् | tāmasam | accusative singular | of the dark strand. Agrees with yajñam (यज्ञम्). |
| परिचक्षते | paricakṣate | present, 3rd plural, middle | they declare. pari (परि) with cakṣ (चक्ष्) "to say, to see as." |
The phrases
विधिहीनम् असृष्टान्नम् मन्त्रहीनम् अदक्षिणम् vidhihīnam asṛṣṭānnam mantrahīnam adakṣiṇam is four failures of the rite, all accusative with the sacrifice. No ordinance. No food given out. No mantra (मन्त्र). No gift for the priest.
śraddhāvirahitam yajñam tāmasam (श्रद्धाविरहितम् यज्ञम् तामसम्) is the fifth failure, and the name. The sacrifice left by faith is the dark one. Faith was the whole of Arjuna's (अर्जुन) question. Here its absence marks tamas (तमस्).
paricakṣate (परिचक्षते) has no named subject. "They declare." The knowers of the distinction. The same verb will class the austerity in 17.17.
Sanskrit in this line
हीनम् + अदक्षिणम् hīnam + adakṣiṇam is recited hīnam adakṣiṇam (हीनमदक्षिणम्), and हीनम् + असृष्टान्नम् hīnam + asṛṣṭānnam is hīnam asṛṣṭānnam (हीनमसृष्टान्नम्). m (म्) before a (अ) stays m (म्). The privative a- (अ-) is the next letter, easy to read as part of hīna (हीन). Both asṛṣṭa (असृष्ट) and adakṣiṇa (अदक्षिण) begin with that reversing a- (अ-).
Say it back
The five absences, then tāmasam (तामसम्). If śraddhā (श्रद्धा) is put back into the sacrifice, you have left this verse.