Shloka 276
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
आत्मानं यूपमुत्सृज्य स यज्ञोडनन्तदक्षिण: । जब लुटेरे ब्राह्मणके धनका अपहरण करते हों
ātmānaṃ yūpam utsṛjya sa yajño 'nantadakṣiṇaḥ |
Sinabi ni Ambarīṣa: Kapag sinamsam ng mga tulisan ang yaman ng isang brāhmaṇa, ang matapang na lalaking nakikipagdigma laban sa kanila, na nagsisikap isuko maging ang minamahal niyang katawan—na inihahandog ang katawan na tila ito ang haliging yūpa ng sakripisyo—o yaong nag-aalay ng “yūpa na katawan” at sumusugod sa mga hampas; ang gayong labanan mismo ang tinatawag na yajña na may walang-hanggang dakṣiṇā (mga gantimpalang handog).
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
Righteous combat undertaken to protect a brāhmaṇa (and, by extension, the innocent and dharma) is elevated to the status of a sacrifice: offering one’s own body like a yūpa makes the act spiritually meritorious, ‘endowed with endless dakṣiṇās,’ rather than mere aggression.
Ambarīṣa explains that when robbers plunder a brāhmaṇa’s wealth, a heroic defender who enters battle ready to give up his life is effectively performing a yajña; the battlefield becomes the ritual arena and self-sacrifice becomes the offering.