Shloka 276

Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

आत्मानं यूपमुत्सृज्य स यज्ञोडनन्तदक्षिण: । जब लुटेरे ब्राह्मणके धनका अपहरण करते हों, उस समय वीर पुरुष उनके साथ किये जानेवाले युद्धमें अपने प्रिय शरीरके त्यागके लिये जो उद्यम करता है अथवा जो देहरूपी यूपका उत्सर्ग करके प्रहार ही कर बैठता है, उसका वह युद्ध ही अनन्त दक्षिणाओंसे युक्त यज्ञ कहलाता है

Transliteration

ātmānaṃ yūpam utsṛjya sa yajño 'nantadakṣiṇaḥ |

Translation

Ambarīṣa sprach: Wenn Räuber das Vermögen eines Brāhmaṇa rauben, dann gilt der Kampf gegen sie—den der tapfere Mann aufnimmt, bereit, selbst seinen geliebten Leib hinzugeben, den Körper darbringend, als wäre er der Opferpfahl yūpa—ja, wer den „yūpa in Gestalt des Leibes“ opfert und nur noch zuschlägt: Dieser Kampf selbst heißt ein yajña, ausgestattet mit endlosen dakṣiṇā, den Opfergaben.

Word by Word

आत्मानम्self (one's own person/body)

यूपम्sacrificial post

उत्सृज्यhaving abandoned/given up

सःhe

यज्ञःsacrifice

अनन्त-दक्षिणःhaving endless sacrificial fees (gifts)

Speaker

अम्बरीष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ambarīṣa

yūpa (sacrificial post)

yajña (sacrifice)

brāhmaṇa (as the protected victim, implied by the passage context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Righteous combat undertaken to protect a brāhmaṇa (and, by extension, the innocent and dharma) is elevated to the status of a sacrifice: offering one’s own body like a yūpa makes the act spiritually meritorious, ‘endowed with endless dakṣiṇās,’ rather than mere aggression.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ambarīṣa explains that when robbers plunder a brāhmaṇa’s wealth, a heroic defender who enters battle ready to give up his life is effectively performing a yajña; the battlefield becomes the ritual arena and self-sacrifice becomes the offering.