Shloka 33

Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

अश्वनागरथैश्वैव संच्छिन्नै: कृतसंक्रमा । पताकाध्वजवानीरा हतवारणवाहिनी

Transliteration

aśvanāgarathaiś caiva saṃchinnaiḥ kṛtasaṅkramā | patākādhvajavānīrā hatavāraṇavāhinī ||

Translation

アンバリーシャは言った。「馬も象も戦車も砕かれ斬り伏せられ、軍の整然たる渡河と進撃の段取りは断たれた。旗印と軍旗は乱れて倒れ、象軍は滅ぼし尽くされた。」

Word by Word

• अश्व: by/with horses
• अश्व: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• नाग: by/with elephants
• नाग: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• रथैः: by/with chariots
• रथैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• संच्छिन्नैः: cut down, severed
• संच्छिन्नैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + छिद्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• कृतसंक्रमा: whose passages/approaches are made (i.e., having made a way/ford)
• कृतसंक्रमा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत-संक्रम
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• पताका: banners
• Type: Noun
• Root: पताका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• ध्वज: standards
• Type: Noun
• Root: ध्वज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वानीरा: spears/javelins (lit. reed-spears)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वानीर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हत: slain, destroyed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हन्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• वारणवाहिनी: the elephant-corps/elephant-army
• वारणवाहिनी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारण-वाहिनी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

अम्बरीष उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ambarīṣa
• horses (aśva)
• elephants (nāga/vāraṇa)
• chariots (ratha)
• banners (patākā)
• standards (dhvaja)
• army/host (vāhinī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the fragility of worldly power: even vast forces marked by banners, elephants, horses, and chariots can be swiftly reduced to ruin, prompting reflection on restraint, responsibility, and dharma amid conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ambarīṣa describes a battlefield scene where the opposing host has been broken—its tactical movements disrupted, its standards scattered, and its elephant divisions destroyed—conveying the scale of defeat and disorder.