Shloka 16

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

Devanagari script

शृगालगृभ्रकाकोला: सदस्यास्तत्र पत्रिण: | आज्यशेषं पिबन्त्येते हवि: प्राश्नन्ति चाध्वरे,सियार, गीध, कौए तथा अन्य मांसभक्षी पक्षी उस यज्ञशालाके सदस्य हैं, जो यज्ञावशिष्ट घृत (रक्त) को पीते और उस यज्ञमें अर्पित हविष्य (मांस) को खाते हैं

Transliteration

śṛgāla-gṛdhra-kākolāḥ sadasyās tatra patriṇaḥ | ājya-śeṣaṃ pibanty ete haviḥ prāśnanti cādhvare ||

Translation

ನರಿಗಳು, ಗಿಡುಗಗಳು, ಕಾಗೆಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಇತರ ಮಾಂಸಭಕ್ಷಿ ಪಕ್ಷಿಗಳು ಆ ಯಜ್ಞದ ಸದಸ್ಯರು; ಅವರು ಯಜ್ಞಾವಶಿಷ್ಟ ಆಜ್ಯವನ್ನು (ರಕ್ತವನ್ನು) ಕುಡಿಯುತ್ತಾರೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅಧ್ವರದಲ್ಲಿ ಅರ್ಪಿತ ಹವಿಸ್ಸನ್ನು (ಮಾಂಸವನ್ನು) ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ.

Word by Word

शृगालगृभ्रकाकोला:jackals, vultures, crows and owls

सदस्याःmembers

तत्रthere

पत्रिणःwinged ones (birds)

आज्यशेषम्the remainder of ghee

पिबन्तिdrink

एतेthese

हविःoblation (havis)

प्राश्नन्तिeat, partake

चand

अध्वरेin the sacrifice

Speaker

अम्बरीष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ambarīṣa

jackals (śṛgālāḥ)

vultures (gṛdhrāḥ)

crows (kākāḥ)

carrion-eating birds (kākolāḥ/patriṇaḥ)

ghee (ājya)

oblation (havis)

sacrifice/ritual (adhvara)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ritual that becomes entangled with violence and impure consumption is condemned as a distortion of dharma. The verse uses stark imagery—scavengers as ‘ritual members’—to show that unethical sacrifice attracts base forces rather than sanctity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ambarīṣa is describing a sacrifice in which the leftovers (ghee/offerings) are consumed by jackals, vultures, crows, and other flesh-eating birds, implying the rite has degenerated into something akin to a slaughter-feast rather than a purifying yajña.