Shloka 41

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

Devanagari script

यस्य शोणिततवेगेन वेदि: स्यात्‌ सम्परिप्लुता

Transliteration

yasya śoṇitatavegena vediḥ syāt sampariplutā

Translation

「その者の奔り来る血潮の奔流によって、祭壇はすっかり水没してしまうであろう。」（アンバリーシャは凄惨な比喩をもって、非義の暴力が本来聖なるべきものをも汚し、儀礼の場さえ穢れの光景へと変えることを戒める。）

Word by Word

• यस्य: whose
• यस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• शोणित-तवेगेन: by/with the force (rush) of blood
• शोणित-तवेगेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शोणित-तवेग
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• वेदिः: altar; sacrificial ground
• वेदिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेदी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• स्यात्: would be; may be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular

• सम्परिप्लुता: completely flooded/overflowed
• सम्परिप्लुता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-परि-√प्लु (प्लव्) + क्त
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

अम्बरीष उवाच

Characters & Entities

• अम्बरीष (Ambarīṣa)
• वेदि (sacrificial altar)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses the altar—symbol of dharmic order and sacred duty—to show how uncontrolled or unrighteous violence desecrates the very foundations of moral life; bloodshed, when driven by adharma, overwhelms and nullifies sanctity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ambarīṣa is speaking in Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse, employing a vivid metaphor: a person’s violent acts are so excessive that the altar itself would be flooded by the torrent of blood, emphasizing the moral horror and social-spiritual consequences of such conduct.