HV 35.1
स्वस्ति दैत्येभ्य इति चाप्य् उशना वाक्यम् आददे । ताभ्यां बलाभ्यां संजज्ञे तुमुलो विग्रहस् तदा । सुराणाम् असुराणां च परस्परजयैषिणाम् ॥
svasti daityebhya iti cāpy uśanā vākyam ādade | tābhyāṃ balābhyāṃ saṃjajñe tumulo vigrahas tadā | surāṇām asurāṇāṃ ca paraspara-jayaiṣiṇām
Uśanas, having taken up the word 'may there be well-being for the daityas' — between the two hosts then arose a tumultuous conflict, of suras and asuras each seeking victory over the other.
The Living Words
*Svasti daityebhyaḥ*, 'well-being for the daityas'. *Uśanā vākyam ādade*, 'Uśanas took up the word'. *Tumulo vigrahaḥ*, 'tumultuous conflict'. *Paraspara-jayaiṣiṇām*, 'each seeking victory over the other'.
The Heart of It
The previous chapter ended with both priests speaking *svasti*; this chapter opens with the very same word, and immediately *tumulo vigrahaḥ*. A bitter comment: blessings do not prevent battles. The priests say *may it be well*; the armies say *let us win*. The Warkari reading is sober: a blessing-word on one side does not automatically quiet the war. What actually ends a war is the Lord's coming into it, which this chapter is about to set up. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh Abhaṅga 18 *śānti-praṇati-kāraka nāma* — 'the Name that produces peace and bowing' — says what *svasti* alone cannot: it is the Name, spoken on the tongue *while the sword is lowered*, that stills. The two *svastis* of HV 34.51 will be fulfilled in HV 36's Kṛṣṇa-victory, not in HV 35.1's *jay-aiṣiṇām*.