Shloka 31
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
विगाहा[ वाहिनीमध्यं तस्य लोका यथा मम । जो विजयके लिये युद्धमें डटा रहकर शत्रुकी सेनामें घुस जाता है और दूसरे किसी भी सहायककी अपेक्षा नहीं रखता, उसे मेरे समान ही लोक प्राप्त होते हैं ।।
ambarīṣa uvāca |
vigāhya vāhinī-madhyaṁ tasya lokā yathā mama |
yo vijayāya yuddhe daṭvā śatru-senāṁ praviśati na ca anyam upakāram apekṣate, sa mamaiva lokān avāpnoti ||
yasya śoṇita-saṅghātā bherī-maṇḍūka-kacchapā nadī yodhasya saṅgrāme, tad asyāvabhṛthaṁ smṛtam |
アンバリーシャは言った。「勝利を念じて戦場に踏みとどまり、他のいかなる支えも求めずに敵軍のただ中へと突入する者——その者は、我がごとき世界を得る。 また、戦士の『戦のヤジュニャ（供犠）』において血の河が流れ、戦鼓の響きが蛙や亀のごとく満ちるとき、その恐るべき流れへ踏み入ることは、供犠を結ぶ浄めの入浴アヴァブリタ（avabhṛtha）に等しいとされる。ゆえに、ダルマにかなう戦いにおける不屈の勇気と自立の決意は、霊的果報をもたらす供犠の行として讃えられる。」
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames steadfast, self-reliant valor in battle—entering the enemy host without depending on external aid—as a dharmic act that yields exalted posthumous realms. It also interprets the horrors of combat through sacrificial symbolism, suggesting that for a righteous warrior the ordeal functions like the purificatory completion (avabhṛtha) of a sacrifice.
Ambarīṣa is speaking within Śānti Parva’s ethical discourse, praising the warrior who stands firm for victory and describing battle through a vivid metaphor: a river of blood with war-drums likened to frogs and tortoises. This imagery recasts the battlefield as a ritual arena, linking martial duty to sacrificial merit.