Shloka 23
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
सामानि सामगास्तस्य गायन्ति यमसादने । हविर्धान॑ तु तस्याहुः परेषां वाहिनीमुखम्
sāmāni sāmagās tasya gāyanti yamasādane | havirdhānaṁ tu tasyāhuḥ pareṣāṁ vāhinīmukham ||
安婆利沙说道：“对他而言，‘娑曼’（Sāman）圣歌仿佛是在阎摩（Yama）自家的居所中吟唱——也就是说，在战场上那骇人的呼号‘砍了他们！’‘撕碎他们！’便成了一种阴森的祭仪。那些士卒如同娑曼歌者一般，似乎只为把敌人送往死神之境而‘歌唱’。而敌军最前锋的部队——那支军队的‘口’——则被称作这位英勇祭主的 havirdhāna：安置供献之物的器皿。”
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses Vedic-sacrificial imagery to interpret warfare: the battlefield’s violent commands become a dark ‘Sāman’ chant, and the enemy’s vanguard becomes the ‘havirdhāna’ (offering-vessel). Ethically, it highlights how kṣatriya action can be framed as a ritualized duty, while also underscoring the grim proximity of war to death.
Ambarīṣa describes a heroic warrior (implicitly the subject under discussion) through an extended metaphor: soldiers are likened to Sāmaveda chanters, the cries of battle to sacred song, and the enemy army’s leading formation to the container that receives an offering—suggesting that enemies are being ‘offered’ to Yama through combat.