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 ||
Sabi ni Ambarīṣa: “Doon, ang mga asong-gubat, buwitre, uwak, at iba pang ibong kumakain ng laman ay ibinibilang na ‘mga kasapi’ ng ritong iyon. Ini-inom nila ang natirang ghee—na siyang dugo—at kinakain ang handog—na siyang laman—sa yajña na iyon.”
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.