17. If they have gone forward to the gods' strongholds, have made the bráhman their defenses; if (? yát) they have encouraged (? upa-vac) themselves, making a body-protection, a complete protection—all that do thou make sapless.
The verse occurred above as v. 8. 6, and the comm. declines to repeat his explanation there given—which, however, is not in our hands.
18. Causing to follow the puróhita with the flesh-eating [fire] and with death, O Trishandhi, go forth with the army; conquer the enemies; go forward.
The last pāda is identical with iii. 19. 8 c.
19. O Trishandhi, do thou envelop our enemies with darkness; of them yonder, thrust forth by the speckled butter, let none soever be freed.
The last half-verse is nearly identical with viii. 8. 19 c, d. ⌊For the stock-phrase d, see iii. 19. 8, note.⌋
20. Let the white-footed one (f.) fall upon (? sam-pat) yonder lines of our enemies; let yonder armies of our enemies be confounded today, O Nyarbudi.
The second pāda is identical with 9. 18 b; to be put in any connection with it, the words of the first pāda require to be rendered otherwise than in 6 a, 7 a, above. The comm. again reads çucas for sicas, as in the other passage ⌊9. 18: comm. p. 18117⌋.
21. Confounded [be] our enemies, O Nyarbudi; slay thou of them each best man (vára); slay [them] with this army.
The comm. strangely reads amitrān beside mūḍhās. ⌊The rationale of his variant is perhaps as in 9. 6 above (nnya = nya). The pada-text has amítrāḥ. But the comm. also takes mūḍhāḥ as = mūḍhān.⌋
22. Whoever is mailed, and who without mail, and what enemy is in march (? ájman); by bowstring-fetters, by mail-fetters, smitten by the march let him lie.
The mss. are in good part awkward about the combination jm (in ajmani, ajmanā), writing what looks like a ṭm or pm, but there is no real variant. The comm. explains ájman as ajati gacchaty anene ’ty ajma rathādi yānam. He gives abhihitas, a preferable reading, in d.
23. Who have defenses, who have no defenses, and the enemies who have defenses—all those, O Arbudi, being slain, let dogs eat on the ground.
The accent yé ‘varmā́ṇaḥ, though read by all the mss. ⌊save R.⌋, is wholly inadmissible, and should be emended to yè ‘v-.
24. Who have chariots, who have no chariots, those without seats and they who have seats (sādá)—all those, being slain, let vultures, falcons, birds (patatrín) eat.
