BG 17.13 — Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 17.13Chapter 17 · Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

विधिहीनमसृष्टान्नं मन्त्रहीनमदक्षिणम् ।

श्रद्धाविरहितं यज्ञं तामसं परिचक्षते ॥

vidhi-hīnam asṛṣṭānnaṃ mantra-hīnam adakṣiṇam

śraddhā-virahitaṃ yajñaṃ tāmasaṃ paricakṣate

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

A sacrifice is called tamasic when it ignores scriptural rules, distributes no food, lacks proper mantras, gives no honorarium, and is performed without faith.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names tamasika yajna. Asrishta-annam — without distribution of food. Mantra-hinam — without proper mantras. Adakshinam — without honorarium. Shraddha-virahitam — bereft of faith. Such yajna parichakshate — they declare — tamasam. Five precise deficiencies. The tamasika yajna is the rite stripped of every operative element.

Shankara reads a yajna as tamasika when it is vidhi-hina — devoid of scriptural injunction, performed contrary to what the texts prescribe. Equally disqualifying: no anna distributed to brahmanas — asrishta-anna; mantras defective in svara or varna — mantra-hina; prescribed dakshina withheld — adakshina; and shraddha — reverent conviction — entirely absent — shraddha-virahita. Five defects together produce the tamasika rite. The chapter's diagnostic now reaches the bottom of the yajna-spectrum: when the form itself collapses, the act becomes inert.

Madhusudana accepts Shankara's enumeration but extends it analytically: each of the five defects constitutes a distinct tamasic species — five mono-defect variants, one penta-defect form, and multiple combinatorial forms. He adds a pointed contrast: in a rajasika rite, even without antahkarana-shuddhi, the structural form is preserved. In the tamasika, the form itself fails. The verse names the rite where everything has gone wrong simultaneously.

Ramanuja specifies vidhi-hina as lacking the directive of qualified brahmanas who know proper conduct — vidhi-vid brahmanas — concretely, the rite performed without those knowers saying 'yajasva' — you should sacrifice. Asrishta-anna for him is achudita-dravya, material not enjoined by the canon. The remaining defects — mantra-hina, adakshina, shraddha-virahita — together make a rite of no consequence. Without shraddha, the entire bhakti-frame collapses; the rite is then merely an outer performance with no relational reach.

Madhva reads each of the five elements as not merely formal but ontologically required: vidhi reflects Hari's command; anna-distribution acknowledges the dependence-network of jivas; mantra is the speech-substance of relation; dakshina is the recognition of priestly mediation; shraddha is the jiva's correct paratantra-orientation toward svatantra Hari. The five-fold absence is the five-fold breakdown of relational structure. The bheda-frame: the yajna fails because each structural element is missing.

Vallabha reads vidhi-hina, asrishta-anna, mantra-hina, adakshina, shraddha-virahita as together producing the tamasika yajna. In shuddhadvaita, Brahman alone is real and the world is Brahman's own self-manifestation. Yajna belongs within the lila; when each operative element is absent, the rite is unmoored from the lila entirely. Pushti-marga reads the absence of shraddha as the most decisive: prasada flows where shraddha receives; without shraddha, even ritually intact form receives nothing.

Shridhara introduces the verse: 'he now describes tamasika sacrifice' and glosses vidhi-hina as shastra-ukta-vidhi-shunya — wholly empty of the procedure shastra has articulated. Asrishta-anna: the food ingredient not given forth, not prepared for brahmanas. The wise — shishtas — declare such a rite — mantra-defective, honorarium-lacking, faith-empty — tamasika. The chapter's full yajna-spectrum is now mapped.

Context

where

Chapter 17 · Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 17.12

Sacrifice performed with an eye on reward, or staged to impress others with your piety, is rajasic, Arjuna.

What's going on

A sacrifice is called tamasic when it ignores scriptural rules, distributes no food, lacks proper mantras, gives no honorarium, and is performed without faith.

Sūtras through this verse (29)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

15.1The world-tree's root is Viṣṇu above.───→here17.13───→17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

17.2Even faith itself comes in three flavors.───→here17.13───→18.19Knowledge, action, doer, each one threefold.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseexit

15.17Three orders, each a distinct relatum.───→here17.13───→

show all 29

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

15.1'Above' is just Viṣṇu, the upward one.───→here17.13───→17.14'Worship of gods' is worship of the One.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesexit

15.17Beyond all selves stands the Highest Person alone.───→here17.13───→

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionexit

15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.───→here17.13───→

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordexit

15.4Cut the world-tree by knowing whose play it is.───→here17.13───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

13.7Itihasa stories and the witness virtues. 'Amanitvam adambhitvam ahimsa kshantir ───→here17.13───→17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here17.13───→

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningexit

16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T───→here17.13───→

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiexit

15.7'Mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah.' A part of me, eternal, has become───→here17.13───→

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsexit

15.16Uttama-puruṣa is Viṣṇu, beyond both.───→here17.13───→

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātraexit

15.16Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.2.127 controls bhūta.───→here17.13───→

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥexit

15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.───→here17.13───→

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsexit

17.5Hard penance off-script is still demonic.───→here17.13───→

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursexit

15.7Self drags the senses like wind drags scent.───→here17.13───→

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

17.2Even faith is sorted by the three modes.───→here17.13───→18.7Wrong renunciation.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

17.1A third class: faith without textual training.───→here17.13───→18.1Three kinds of renouncing, one for each grade.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicbetween

17.1A third class: faith outside the texts.───→here17.13───→18.1Even renouncing splits into three by disposition.

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourexit · v2

15.8Carrying the perfume───→here17.13───→

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementexit · other

16.22Released from the three gates───→here17.13───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateexit

17.2Threefold faith: tagged at this site.───→here17.13───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousexit

15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.───→here17.13───→

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaexit

15.18Named Puruṣottama.───→here17.13───→

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesexit

17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.───→here17.13───→

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryexit

15.15The bhāṣya-author is named by the Lord himself.───→here17.13───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

17.4The mode of worship reveals the worshipper.───→here17.13───→18.46Karma-yoga's act IS indweller-worship.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereexit

15.16Both the changing and changeless are below the supreme.───→here17.13───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessexit

17.2Even faith is graded through the three.───→here17.13───→

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 13 occurrences)

परिचक्षते pari-√cakṣ — to call, designate, declare (pari- + √cakṣ) · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
अदक्षिणम् adakṣiṇa — without ritual fee (a- + dakṣiṇā) · accusative masculine singular noun

show all 12

हीनम् √hā ×2 — to abandon, give up (verbal root); also: alas (interjection) · accusative masculine singular participle noun
विधि vidhi — rule, injunction, prescribed procedure · compound masculine (compound member)
अ a — negation prefix (un-, non-, not)
सृष्ट √sṛj — to release, create, emit (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member)
अन्नम् anna — (an- + na: not) · accusative masculine singular noun
मन्त्र mantra — sacred formula, incantation (from √man 'think') · compound
श्रद्धा śraddhā — faith, trust, conviction · compound · also at 3.31, 4.33, 4.39, 6.47, 7.21, 17.2 +2
विरहितम् virahita — (vi- + rahita: deprived of) · accusative masculine singular noun
यज्ञम् yajña — sacrifice, worship, ritual offering · accusative masculine singular noun
तामसम् tāmasa — tāmasa (derived from tamas 'darkness': 'pertaining to the tamas guṇa') · accusative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If shraddha (faith, reverential intent) is the final disqualifier listed, does the verse imply that sincere intent can partially redeem procedural defects — or is each defect independently sufficient to render the rite tamasic?
02Ramanuja ties vidhi to brahmana sanction ('yajasva iti ukti-hinam') while Shankara ties it directly to shastra: does this divergence reveal a deeper disagreement about whether scripture operates through qualified persons or independently as pramana?

show all 7

03Madhusudana identifies rtvij-dvesha (animosity toward officiants) as a generator of shraddha-absence: what does this say about the relationship between interpersonal ethical quality and ritual validity?
04Madhusudana counts five mono-defect and multiple combinatorial tamasic subtypes: is tamas a scalar quality (more defects = more tamas) or a threshold phenomenon (any single defect suffices to flip the category)?
05The verse names anna-dana (food distribution) as a structural element of yajña — not merely an add-on: what does this imply about the economic and redistributive function built into Vedic ritual as an anti-tamasic mechanism?
06Given that Dvaita and Shuddhadvaita bhashyas are absent from the transmitted corpus for this verse, what does the patterned silence of some commentators on certain verses tell us about the polemical priorities of each school?
07The mantra-defect is specified as both svara (tonal accent) and varna (phoneme): does this mean a rite performed with correct intent but imperfect pronunciation is tamasic, and what does that imply for non-Brahmin practitioners?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before executing any significant professional commitment — a presentation, a contract, a meeting — ask: have I actually read the relevant standards (vidhi), allocated the proper resources (anna), used the right vocabulary and form (mantra), fulfilled the stated obligations (dakshina), and am I genuinely engaged or going through motions (shraddha)? Shankara's frame says a technically defective effort produces mental tamas — dullness, not clarity — regardless of good intentions.

Dvaita

In Madhva's frame every role is a position of dependence on a higher order. When you shortcut a process at work — skip documentation, skip proper acknowledgment, skip fair compensation — you are not just being sloppy; you are acting as though the hierarchy of obligations does not apply to you. Tamasic action in Dvaita is action that denies the structure of dependency.

show all 4

Bhakti

Sridhara's checklist is practical: before any collective undertaking (a team ritual, a family ceremony, a community event), explicitly verify the five elements. Is the procedure understood by all participants (vidhi)? Is something given to those who serve (anna)? Are the right words used in the right way (mantra)? Is fair recognition given (dakshina)? Is everyone genuinely invested (shraddha)? Checking five boxes is not bureaucracy — it is what distinguishes a real event from an empty performance.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's observation that rtvij-dvesha (resentment toward co-participants) generates the shraddha-defect is the most directly actionable insight: if you find yourself resentful of colleagues or collaborators while performing a shared obligation, the inner quality of the work has already gone tamasic, regardless of external form. The corrective is to address the relational friction first — not to perfect the procedure while the animosity persists.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 17, Verse 13: Krishna to Arjuna — Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga