Shloka 4
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
क्षत्रियका पुत्र यदि समरांगणमें घायल होकर बाणोंकी चितापर दग्ध होता है तो वह देवदुर्लभ लोकोंमें जाता और वहाँ आनन्दपूर्वक स्वर्गीय-सुख भोगता है ।।
kṣatriyakā putra yadi samarāṅgaṇeṁ ghāyala hokara bāṇoṁ kī citā par dagdha hotā hai to vah devadurlabha lokoṁ meṁ jātā aur vahāṁ ānandapūrvak svargīya-sukha bhogatā hai || śrāntaṁ bhītaṁ bhraṣṭaśastraṁ rudantaṁ parāṅmukhaṁ paribaddhaśva-hīnam | anudyantaṁ rogiṇaṁ yācamānaṁ na vai hiṁsyathā bāla-vṛddhau ca rājan ||
Parāśara dit : «Si le fils d’un kṣatriya, blessé sur le champ de bataille, est consumé sur un bûcher de flèches, il atteint des mondes difficiles d’accès même pour les dieux, et là il jouit avec joie du bonheur céleste. Mais, ô roi, on ne doit pas frapper un ennemi épuisé, terrifié, qui a laissé tomber ses armes, qui pleure, qui fuit en tournant le dos, qui a perdu son cheval et son équipement, qui a cessé tout effort guerrier, qui est malade ou qui mendie sa vie ; et l’on ne doit pas non plus tuer un adversaire qui soit un enfant ou un vieillard.»
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage balances valor with restraint: heroic death in righteous battle is praised as leading to exalted realms, yet dharma forbids killing those who are helpless—exhausted, weaponless, fleeing, sick, pleading, or too young/old—because such killing violates the ethical limits of warfare.
Parāśara instructs a king on proper conduct in war. He first states the merit and heavenly reward associated with a Kṣatriya who dies wounded in battle, then immediately lays down prohibitions against slaying certain categories of vulnerable enemies, defining what honorable combat must exclude.