Shloka 22
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
छिन्धि भिन्धीति य: शब्द: श्रूयते वाहिनीमुखे
chindhi bhindhīti yaḥ śabdaḥ śrūyate vāhinīmukhe, sa senāke muhāne 'kāṭ ḍālo, phāḍ ḍālo' ityādiko bhayaṅkaraḥ śabdaḥ śrūyate sa eva sāmagānaḥ. sainikarūpāḥ sāmagāyakāḥ śatrūn yamalokaṃ preṣayituṃ mano sāmagānaṃ kurvanti. śatrūṇāṃ senāyāḥ pradhāna-bhāgaḥ tasmai vīra-yajamānāya havirdhānam (haviṣyaḥ sthāpanapātram) ucyate.
安婆梨沙说道：“在军阵最前沿所听见的可怖呼号——‘斩！劈！’——实则是一种娑曼（Sāman）之歌。士卒仿佛娑曼歌者，以此‘歌唱’，将敌人送往阎摩（Yama）之界。而敌军的主力，则被称作havirdhāna——盛放供献之物的器皿——为那位英勇的祭主而设。”
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reframes battlefield violence through Vedic sacrificial imagery: the war-cry becomes ‘Sāman-chant,’ soldiers become chanters, and the enemy host becomes the oblation-vessel. Ethically, it highlights how human conflict can be ritualized and given a sacred veneer—inviting reflection on the moral weight of such framing even when duty (dharma) is invoked.
Ambarīṣa is describing what is heard and seen at the army’s front: fierce commands to cut and split the enemy. He interprets these sounds metaphorically as Sāmaveda-style chanting, suggesting that the soldiers ‘sing’ to send foes to Yama’s realm, and he likens the enemy’s main formation to the havirdhāna prepared for a heroic sacrificer.