Shloka 39
उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः
Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment
यस्य सम संग्रामगता यशो वै घ्नन्ति शत्रवः । तदसहातरं दुःखमहं मन्ये वधादपि,संग्रामभूमिमें आये हुए शत्रु जिसके यशका नाश कर देते हैं। उसके लिये उस दुःखको मैं मरणसे भी बढ़कर असहा मानता हूँ
yasya samare saṅgrāmagatā yaśo vai ghnanti śatravaḥ | tad asahātaraṃ duḥkham ahaṃ manye vadhād api ||
Dijo Bhishma: Cuando los enemigos, frente a frente en el campo de batalla, logran destruir la fama y el honor de un hombre, considero ese tormento aún más insoportable que la muerte. En la ética de la vida kshatriya, perder la reputación por derrota o deshonra en combate abierto es un sufrimiento que supera la mera destrucción del cuerpo.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that for one bound by warrior-ethics, the destruction of one’s honor and fame in open battle is a suffering more intolerable than death; moral and social integrity (yaśas) is treated as a value higher than mere survival.
In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and conduct. Here he reflects on the battlefield context, stating that when enemies in war ruin a person’s reputation, that disgrace is felt as worse than being slain.