Shloka 22
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
छिन्धि भिन्धीति य: शब्द: श्रूयते वाहिनीमुखे
chindhi bhindhīti yaḥ śabdaḥ śrūyate vāhinīmukhe, sa senāke muhāne 'kāṭ ḍālo, phāḍ ḍālo' ityādiko bhayaṅkaraḥ śabdaḥ śrūyate sa eva sāmagānaḥ. sainikarūpāḥ sāmagāyakāḥ śatrūn yamalokaṃ preṣayituṃ mano sāmagānaṃ kurvanti. śatrūṇāṃ senāyāḥ pradhāna-bhāgaḥ tasmai vīra-yajamānāya havirdhānam (haviṣyaḥ sthāpanapātram) ucyate.
アンバリーシャは言った。「軍勢の最前に響く恐るべき叫び——『斬れ！裂け！』——それこそ実にサーマン（Sāman）の詠唱である。兵たちはサーマンの歌い手のように、敵をヤマ（Yama）の国へ送るために『歌って』いるかのごとく見える。さらに敵軍の主たる隊列は、その勇なる祭主にとってのハヴィルダーナ（havirdhāna）——供物を納める器——と説かれる。」
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reframes battlefield violence through Vedic sacrificial imagery: the war-cry becomes ‘Sāman-chant,’ soldiers become chanters, and the enemy host becomes the oblation-vessel. Ethically, it highlights how human conflict can be ritualized and given a sacred veneer—inviting reflection on the moral weight of such framing even when duty (dharma) is invoked.
Ambarīṣa is describing what is heard and seen at the army’s front: fierce commands to cut and split the enemy. He interprets these sounds metaphorically as Sāmaveda-style chanting, suggesting that the soldiers ‘sing’ to send foes to Yama’s realm, and he likens the enemy’s main formation to the havirdhāna prepared for a heroic sacrificer.