Verse 16.17

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 16.17:

आत्म-सम्भाविताः स्तब्धा धन-मान-मदान्विताः ।
यजन्ते नाम-यज्ञैस् ते दम्भेनाविधि-पूर्वकम् ॥ १७ ॥

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ stabdhā dhana-māna-madānvitāḥ |
yajante nāma-yajñais te dambhenāvidhi-pūrvakam || 17 ||

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ–self-conceited; stabdhāḥ–without humility; dhana–due to wealth; māna-mada-anvitāḥ–intoxicated with desire to be honoured; yajante nāma-yajñaiḥ–perform sacrifices in name only (without a mood of sacrifice);te–they; dambhena–full of hypocrisy, ostentatiously; avidhi-pūrvakam–without following the injunctions prescribed in scripture.

Filled with pride, unsubmissiveness, arrogance and the intoxication of false prestige due to wealth, these demons perform ostentatious ritualistic sacrifices in name only, disregarding all the injunctions of scripture.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Ātma-sambhāvitāḥ means that they consider themselves to be worshipable; therefore, they are stabdhāḥ, not humble, but arrogant. However, no sādhu gives them respect. Nāma-yajñaiḥ means ‘acts that are Vedic sacrifices in name only’.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Having understood the symptoms and activities of those with divine and demoniac natures, Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa, “Some people give up the rules and regulations of scripture and whimsically worship insignificant demigods according to their own speculative ideas. How can their worship be categorized?” Currently, most persons worshipping the demigods and other personalities do so according to their own speculative whims, disre-garding the injunctions of scripture. In this regard, we must hear the instructions given by Śrī Kṛṣṇa.