Shloka 27
Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)
धनुर्यूपो रशना ज्या शर: खुक् स्रुवः खड्गो रुधिरं यत्र चाज्यम् । रथो वेदी कामगो युद्धमग्नि- श्वातुर्होत्रं चतुरो वाजिमुख्या:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
dhanur yūpo raśanā jyā śaraḥ śuk sruvaḥ khaḍgo rudhiraṃ yatra cājyam |
ratho vedī kāmago yuddham agniś cāturhotraṃ caturo vājimukhyāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Son arc fut le poteau sacrificiel; la sangle de sa ceinture devint la corde; les flèches furent comme la louche (sruva), et l’épée accomplit l’office de la cuiller d’offrande. Là, le sang lui-même tint lieu de ghee. Son char, allant où bon lui semblait, fut l’autel; la bataille fut le feu; et ses quatre chevaux principaux furent comme les quatre prêtres du rite cāturhotra. Ainsi ce roi rapide, semblable à un lion, Hayagrīva, offrant ses ennemis dans le feu de ce ‘sacrifice’ et, finalement, offrant son propre souffle vital, fut délivré du péché; et, la guerre achevée comme un bain final d’avabhṛtha, il se réjouit maintenant dans le monde des dieux.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames righteous battle (undertaken as kṣatriya-duty) through the imagery of a Vedic sacrifice: instruments of war become ritual implements, and the warrior’s final self-offering is likened to the sacrifice’s completion and purification. It emphasizes intention, duty, and the idea that disciplined action can be interpreted within a sacred-ethical order.
Vaiśampāyana describes a warrior-king (Hayagrīva) whose combat is poetically presented as a yajña: bow as yūpa, chariot as altar, battle as fire, and horses as priests. By ‘offering’ enemies and ultimately his own life, he is said to attain purification and joy in Devaloka, as if he had completed the concluding avabhṛtha bath of a sacrifice.