Shloka 17
Kṣātra-dharma in Campaign and Battle: Protection, Purification, and the Ideal Warrior’s End (क्षात्रधर्मः—अभियानयुद्धे रक्षणदानशुद्धिः)
अभयकालके समान ही उस भयके समय भी यदि कोई शूरवीर उस भीरु पुरुषकी सकुशल रक्षा कर लेता है तो उसके प्रति वह अपने अनुरूप उपकार एवं पुण्य करता है। यदि पृष्ठवर्ती पुरुषको वह अपने-जैसा न बना सके तो भी पूर्व कथित पुण्यका भागी तो होता ही है ।।
yadi te kṛtam ājñāya namaskuryuḥ sadaivātam | yuktaṃ nyāyyaṃ ca kuryus te na ca tad vartate tathā ||
Bhishma said: “If those who have been protected truly recognize the benefactor’s deed and continually bow before that valiant protector, then they are acting in a fitting and just manner toward him. If they do not, their conduct turns contrary to what is proper—failing in gratitude and in the duty owed to one who saved them in danger.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Gratitude is a dharmic obligation: one who has been protected should acknowledge the benefactor’s deed and respond with fitting, just conduct—reverence, loyalty, and appropriate service—rather than ingratitude.
In Bhishma’s instruction on righteous conduct (Shanti Parva), he explains the moral expectation that beneficiaries of protection—especially in times of fear or danger—must recognize the protector’s help and behave toward him in a proper and just way.