Shloka 16
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
शृगालगृभ्रकाकोला: सदस्यास्तत्र पत्रिण: | आज्यशेषं पिबन्त्येते हवि: प्राश्नन्ति चाध्वरे
śṛgāla-gṛdhra-kākolāḥ sadasyās tatra patriṇaḥ | ājya-śeṣaṃ pibanty ete haviḥ prāśnanti cādhvare ||
ਗਿੱਦੜ, ਗਿਦ੍ਹ, ਕਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਮਾਸਖਾਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਪੰਛੀ ਉਸ ਯੱਗ ਦੇ ਸਦੱਸ ਹਨ; ਉਹ ਯੱਗ-ਅਵਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਘੀ (ਲਹੂ) ਪੀਂਦੇ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਅਧਵਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਚੜ੍ਹਾਇਆ ਹਵਿਸ਼ (ਮਾਸ) ਖਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ।
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.