Shloka 22
छिन्धि भिन्धीति य: शब्द: श्रूयते वाहिनीमुखे,सेनाके मुहानेपर जो “काट डालो', फाड़ डालो' आदिका भयंकर शब्द सुना जाता है, वही सामगान है। सैनिकरूपी सामगायक शत्रुओंको यमलोकमें भेजनेके लिये मानो सामगान करते हैं। शत्रुओंकी सेनाका प्रमुख भाग उस वीर यजमानके लिये हविर्धान (हविष्य रखनेका पात्र) बताया गया है
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.
Ambarīṣa berkata: “Jeritan menggerunkan yang terdengar di hadapan barisan tentera—‘Tebas mereka! Belah mereka!’—sesungguhnya adalah sejenis nyanyian Sāman. Para askar, seolah-olah penyanyi Sāman, tampak ‘bernyanyi’ untuk menghantar musuh ke alam Yama. Dan bahagian utama bala tentera musuh digambarkan sebagai havirdhāna, bejana yang menampung persembahan, bagi si pengorban yang gagah itu.”
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.