Shloka 24
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
कुज्जराणां हयानां च वर्मिणां च समुच्चय: । अग्नि: श्येनचितो नाम स च यज्ञे विधीयते,हाथी, घोड़े और कवचधारी वीर पुरुषोंके समूह ही उस युद्धयज्ञके श्येनचित नामक अन्नि हैं
kuñjarāṇāṃ hayānāṃ ca varmiṇāṃ ca samuccayaḥ | agniḥ śyenacito nāma sa ca yajñe vidhīyate ||
Ambarīṣa berkata: “Himpunan gajah, kuda, dan para pahlawan berperisai yang tersusun rapat itulah api yang bernama ‘Śyenacita’. Api itulah yang ditetapkan bagi korban suci.”
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a ritual metaphor: the assembled forces of war are equated with the sacrificial fire ‘Śyenacita’. It highlights how the idiom of yajña can be used to interpret (and potentially justify) warfare, prompting ethical scrutiny of turning violence into ‘ritual duty’.
Ambarīṣa is explaining a conception of a ‘war-sacrifice’, identifying the battlefield’s principal elements—elephants, horses, and armoured fighters—as the ritual fire itself, specifically likened to the Vedic Śyenacita altar-fire prescribed in sacrifice.