A core teaching · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“Pride can hollow out sacred action until only appearance remains.”
Self-important, stubborn, drunk on wealth and praise, they perform ritual in name only, with pretence and without proper method.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyself-important · stubborn, rigid · endowed with wealth-pride and honor-pride · they perform ritual · with name-only sacrifices · they · with pretence · without proper method
People swollen with pride, wealth, and status may still perform rituals, but only as show. The outer act remains, while the inner sincerity and right method are missing.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga" (The Divine and Demoniac Natures).
Verse 17 sits in Chapter 16 of the Bhagavad Gita — Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga, "The Divine and Demoniac Natures". The chapter has 24 verses in total.
A businessman funds a grand puja mainly to be photographed with the minister, and skips the prayers once the cameras leave. Krishna calls that sacrifice in name only, done with pretence and without proper method.
Did you like this verse?
Proud, stubborn and drunk on wealth, the asuric perform rituals in name only, for show and without method.
What this verse means
People swollen with pride, wealth, and status may still perform rituals, but only as show. The outer act remains, while the inner sincerity and right method are missing.
Context & commentary
Krishna is exposing the inner decay behind outward piety. After describing deluded people trapped in desire, he shows another mask: ritual done for show by the proud, rich, and stubborn. The trouble lies in the false motive behind the action.
What it looks like today
A businessman funds a grand puja mainly to be photographed with the minister, and skips the prayers once the cameras leave. Krishna calls that sacrifice in name only, done with pretence and without proper method.
“Real practice feels clean and humble, not flashy or self-congratulatory.”