Shloka 23
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
सामानि सामगास्तस्य गायन्ति यमसादने । हविर्धान॑ तु तस्याहुः परेषां वाहिनीमुखम्
sāmāni sāmagās tasya gāyanti yamasādane | havirdhānaṁ tu tasyāhuḥ pareṣāṁ vāhinīmukham ||
Ambarīṣa dit : «Pour lui, les chants du “Sāman” sont entonnés dans la demeure même de Yama—c’est-à-dire que, sur le champ de bataille, les clameurs terrifiantes “Tranchez-les !” et “Déchirez-les !” tiennent lieu de liturgie funèbre. Ces soldats, comme s’ils étaient des chanteurs de Sāman, semblent ne “chanter” que pour expédier les ennemis au royaume de la Mort. Et la division d’avant-garde—la “bouche” même de l’armée adverse—est décrite, pour ce patron héroïque, comme le havirdhāna, le vase où l’on dépose l’offrande.»
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses Vedic-sacrificial imagery to interpret warfare: the battlefield’s violent commands become a dark ‘Sāman’ chant, and the enemy’s vanguard becomes the ‘havirdhāna’ (offering-vessel). Ethically, it highlights how kṣatriya action can be framed as a ritualized duty, while also underscoring the grim proximity of war to death.
Ambarīṣa describes a heroic warrior (implicitly the subject under discussion) through an extended metaphor: soldiers are likened to Sāmaveda chanters, the cries of battle to sacred song, and the enemy army’s leading formation to the container that receives an offering—suggesting that enemies are being ‘offered’ to Yama through combat.