Shloka 27
Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)
धनुर्यूपो रशना ज्या शर: खुक् स्रुवः खड्गो रुधिरं यत्र चाज्यम् । रथो वेदी कामगो युद्धमग्नि- श्वातुर्होत्रं चतुरो वाजिमुख्या:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
dhanur yūpo raśanā jyā śaraḥ śuk sruvaḥ khaḍgo rudhiraṃ yatra cājyam |
ratho vedī kāmago yuddham agniś cāturhotraṃ caturo vājimukhyāḥ ||
毗湿摩波耶那说道：“他的弓便是祭柱（yūpa）；腰带化作弓弦；箭矢如同酌勺（sruva），宝剑则行供匙之职。其处以血代酥油（ghṛta）。随意驰骋的战车便是祭坛；战斗便是火；而他四匹最上良马，犹如四位主祭之司祭，成就四火祭（cāturhotra）。于是，那迅捷如狮的海耶格利瓦王，将仇敌投入这‘祭祀’之火，终又以自身生命之气为供，遂脱离罪垢；并以战争的终结如同祭毕的阿瓦布里塔沐浴（avabhṛtha），如今在天神之界欢悦。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames righteous battle (undertaken as kṣatriya-duty) through the imagery of a Vedic sacrifice: instruments of war become ritual implements, and the warrior’s final self-offering is likened to the sacrifice’s completion and purification. It emphasizes intention, duty, and the idea that disciplined action can be interpreted within a sacred-ethical order.
Vaiśampāyana describes a warrior-king (Hayagrīva) whose combat is poetically presented as a yajña: bow as yūpa, chariot as altar, battle as fire, and horses as priests. By ‘offering’ enemies and ultimately his own life, he is said to attain purification and joy in Devaloka, as if he had completed the concluding avabhṛtha bath of a sacrifice.