Bhagavad-gītā 16.17

Explain simply

Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa

आत्मसम्भाविताः स्तब्धा धनमानमदान्विताः ।
यजन्ते नामयज्ञैस्ते दम्भेनाविधिपूर्वकम् ॥१७॥

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ stabdhā
dhana-māna-madānvitāḥ
yajante nāma-yajñais te
dambhenāvidhi-pūrvakam

Word for word (synonyms)

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ
self-complacent
stabdhāḥ
impudent
dhana-māna
wealth and false prestige
mada-anvitāḥ
absorbed in pride
yajante
perform sacrifices
nāma
in name only
yajñaiḥ
with such a sacrifice
te
they
dambhena
out of pride
avidhi-pūrvakam
without following any rules and regulations

Translation

Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes perform sacrifices in name only without following any rules or regulations.

Defined in the Gītā

Sacrifice

Which sacrifice is the greatest?

O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice of knowledge is greater than the sacrifice of material possessions. O son of Pṛthā, after all, the sacrifice of work culminates in transcendental knowledge.

Bhagavad-gītā 4.33

See the definition

Purport

Thinking themselves all in all, not caring for any authority or scripture, the demoniac sometimes perform so-called religious or sacrificial rites. And since they do not believe in authority, they are very impudent. This is due to illusion caused by accumulating some wealth and false prestige. Sometimes such demons take up the role of preacher, mislead the people, and become known as religious reformers or as incarnations of God. They make a show of performing sacrifices, or they worship the demigods, or manufacture their own God. Common men advertise them as God and worship them, and by the foolish they are considered advanced in the principles of religion, or in the principles of spiritual knowledge. They take the dress of the renounced order of life and engage in all nonsense in that dress. Actually there are so many restrictions for one who has renounced this world. The demons, however, do not care for such restrictions. They think that whatever path one can create is one's own path; there is no such thing as a standard path one has to follow. The word avidhi-pūrvakam, meaning disregard for the rules and regulations, is especially stressed here. These things are always due to ignorance and illusion.

What this verse teaches

The study note for this verse is in editorial review.

Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.