Shloka 38
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
हविर्धानं स्ववाहिन्यास्तदस्याहुर्मनीषिण: । जो वीर शत्रुसेना के मुहानेको पत्नीशाला बना लेता है, मनीषी पुरुष उसके लिये अपनी सेनाके प्रमुख भागको युद्ध-यज्ञके हवनीय पदार्थोंके रखनेका पात्र बताते हैं ।।
havirdhānaṃ svavāhinyās tad asyāhur manīṣiṇaḥ | yo vīraḥ śatrusenāyā mukhānaṃ patnīśālāṃ banālayati, manīṣiṇaḥ puruṣāḥ tasmai svasenāyāḥ pradhānabhāgaṃ yuddhayajñasya havanīyadravyāṇāṃ nidhānapātraṃ vadanti || sadasyā dakṣiṇā yodhā āgnīdhraś cottarāṃ diśam ||
安婆梨沙说道：“智者宣称，在这场‘战争之祭’中，盛放供献之物的最上器皿，正是自己那支统御得当的军队。那位英雄若能把敌军阵前的‘口’变作‘妻室之亭’——也就是在前锋处击溃并羞辱敌人——明达之士便说，他就成了己方安置胜利供品的主要器皿。战士是达克希那（祭礼之酬）；执事者是仪式的成员；而阿耆尼陀罗祭官则驻于北方。”
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames warfare through the ethical and symbolic language of yajña: disciplined collective effort (one’s own army) is treated as the chief ‘receptacle’ of success, and decisive courage that breaks the enemy’s front is praised as the principal means by which the ‘offerings’ of victory are secured—while reminding that war has costs, likened to dakṣiṇā (the fee paid in a sacrifice).
Ambarīṣa continues a discourse that maps elements of a Vedic sacrifice onto the battlefield: the army becomes ritual apparatus, warriors become the sacrificial ‘fee,’ and roles like the Āgnīdhra are assigned directions—using this metaphor to explain how leadership and valor function within the larger order of dharma and statecraft.