Shloka 16
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
शृगालगृभ्रकाकोला: सदस्यास्तत्र पत्रिण: | आज्यशेषं पिबन्त्येते हवि: प्राश्नन्ति चाध्वरे,सियार, गीध, कौए तथा अन्य मांसभक्षी पक्षी उस यज्ञशालाके सदस्य हैं, जो यज्ञावशिष्ट घृत (रक्त) को पीते और उस यज्ञमें अर्पित हविष्य (मांस) को खाते हैं
śṛgāla-gṛdhra-kākolāḥ sadasyās tatra patriṇaḥ | ājya-śeṣaṃ pibanty ete haviḥ prāśnanti cādhvare ||
Ambarīṣa sagte: „Dort gelten Schakale, Geier, Krähen und andere fleischfressende Vögel als ‘Mitglieder’ jenes Ritus. Sie trinken den Rest des Ghee — das Blut — und verzehren die dargebrachte Opfergabe — das Fleisch — in diesem Opfer.“
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ritual that becomes entangled with violence and impure consumption is condemned as a distortion of dharma. The verse uses stark imagery—scavengers as ‘ritual members’—to show that unethical sacrifice attracts base forces rather than sanctity.
Ambarīṣa is describing a sacrifice in which the leftovers (ghee/offerings) are consumed by jackals, vultures, crows, and other flesh-eating birds, implying the rite has degenerated into something akin to a slaughter-feast rather than a purifying yajña.