Shloka 41
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
यस्य शोणिततवेगेन वेदि: स्यात् सम्परिप्लुता
yasya śoṇitatavegena vediḥ syāt sampariplutā
“By whose rushing flood of blood the sacrificial altar would be completely inundated.” (Ambarīṣa evokes a grim image to underscore how violence can profane what is meant to be sacred, warning that unrighteous force turns even ritual space into a scene of defilement.)
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the altar—symbol of dharmic order and sacred duty—to show how uncontrolled or unrighteous violence desecrates the very foundations of moral life; bloodshed, when driven by adharma, overwhelms and nullifies sanctity.
Ambarīṣa is speaking in Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse, employing a vivid metaphor: a person’s violent acts are so excessive that the altar itself would be flooded by the torrent of blood, emphasizing the moral horror and social-spiritual consequences of such conduct.