Shloka 38
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
हविर्धानं स्ववाहिन्यास्तदस्याहुर्मनीषिण: । जो वीर शत्रुसेना के मुहानेको पत्नीशाला बना लेता है, मनीषी पुरुष उसके लिये अपनी सेनाके प्रमुख भागको युद्ध-यज्ञके हवनीय पदार्थोंके रखनेका पात्र बताते हैं ।। सदस्या दक्षिणा योधा आग्नीथ्रश्नोत्तरां दिशम्
havirdhānaṃ svavāhinyās tad asyāhur manīṣiṇaḥ | yo vīraḥ śatrusenāyā mukhānaṃ patnīśālāṃ banālayati, manīṣiṇaḥ puruṣāḥ tasmai svasenāyāḥ pradhānabhāgaṃ yuddhayajñasya havanīyadravyāṇāṃ nidhānapātraṃ vadanti || sadasyā dakṣiṇā yodhā āgnīdhraś cottarāṃ diśam ||
Ambarīṣa sprach: „Die Weisen erklären, das vornehmste Gefäß für die Opfergabe in diesem ‘Kriegsopfer’ sei das eigene, gut geführte Heer. Der Held, der den ‘Mund’ des feindlichen Heeres zu einem ‘Frauenpavillon’ macht — das heißt, der den Gegner an der Front bricht und beschämt —, ein solcher Mann wird, so sagen die Einsichtigen, für seine Seite zum Hauptgefäß, in das die Opfergaben des Sieges gelegt werden. Die Kämpfer sind die dakṣiṇā (Opferlohn); die Offizianten sind die Glieder des Ritus; und der Āgnīdhra-Priester ist im Norden aufgestellt.“
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames warfare through the ethical and symbolic language of yajña: disciplined collective effort (one’s own army) is treated as the chief ‘receptacle’ of success, and decisive courage that breaks the enemy’s front is praised as the principal means by which the ‘offerings’ of victory are secured—while reminding that war has costs, likened to dakṣiṇā (the fee paid in a sacrifice).
Ambarīṣa continues a discourse that maps elements of a Vedic sacrifice onto the battlefield: the army becomes ritual apparatus, warriors become the sacrificial ‘fee,’ and roles like the Āgnīdhra are assigned directions—using this metaphor to explain how leadership and valor function within the larger order of dharma and statecraft.