Sanskrit
विधिहीनमसृष्टान्नं मन्त्रहीनमदक्षिणम् । श्रद्धाविरहितं यज्ञं तामसं परिचक्षते ॥
vidhihīnam asṛṣṭānnaṃ mantrahīnam adakṣiṇam śraddhāvirahitaṃ yajñaṃ tāmasaṃ paricakṣate
Translation
The sacrifice contrary to the ordinances, without distributing food, devoid of words of power and without gifts, empty of faith, is said to be of darkness.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Tamasic sacrifice is defined by absence on every count — no correct form, no shared food, no mantras, no gifts to the officiants, and finally śraddhā-virahita, empty of faith. That last phrase is doing the real work: it anticipates the chapter’s closing declaration in verse 28 that anything done without faith is void regardless of its other features, making this verse’s tamasic sacrifice essentially a preview of what “Asat” will later name outright.