Shloka 21
Kṣātra-dharma in Campaign and Battle: Protection, Purification, and the Ideal Warrior’s End (क्षात्रधर्मः—अभियानयुद्धे रक्षणदानशुद्धिः)
अस्वस्ति तेभ्य: कुर्वन्ति देवा इन्द्रपुरोगमा: । त्यागेन यः सहायानां स्वान् प्राणांस्त्रातुमिच्छति
asvasti tebhyaḥ kurvanti devā indrapurogamāḥ | tyāgena yaḥ sahāyānāṃ svān prāṇāṃs trātum icchati |
Bhīṣma sprach: „Die Götter, allen voran Indra, gewähren denen kein Wohlergehen, die ihr eigenes Leben retten wollen, indem sie ihre Gefährten verlassen. Wer seine Helfer preisgibt, um sich selbst zu bewahren, wird als Feigling gebrandmarkt; von den übrigen Kṣatriyas soll er verstoßen und hart bestraft werden, denn er verletzt den Kriegerkodex: Treue und gemeinsam getragenes Wagnis.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A warrior must not preserve himself by deserting comrades; abandoning allies is adharma and invites divine disfavor and social condemnation. The verse elevates solidarity and shared risk as essential to kṣatriya conduct.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct. Here he censures the coward who tries to save his life by forsaking companions, stating that the gods led by Indra withhold auspiciousness from such a person and that fellow warriors should treat him as dishonorable.