Shloka 27
Kṣātra-dharma in Campaign and Battle: Protection, Purification, and the Ideal Warrior’s End (क्षात्रधर्मः—अभियानयुद्धे रक्षणदानशुद्धिः)
अरोगाणां स्पृहयते मुहुर्मुत्युमपीच्छति । वीरो दृप्तोडभिमानी च नेदृशं मृत्युमहीति
arogāṇāṁ spṛhayate muhur mṛtyum apīcchati | vīro dṛpto 'bhimānī ca nedṛśaṁ mṛtyum arhati ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Le malade aspire à l’état des bien-portants et, maintes fois, en vient même à souhaiter la mort. Mais un guerrier — fier et jaloux de son honneur — ne mérite pas une telle mort : gémir dans l’agonie, le visage déformé, se désoler sans cesse devant ses serviteurs, convoiter la santé et désirer à répétition mourir alors qu’il est encore malade. Une telle fin est indigne de qui vit par l’honneur.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that repeated lamentation and a death sought out of despair during illness is contrary to the dignity expected of a self-respecting warrior; one should endure suffering with steadiness and uphold honor rather than collapse into continual wailing and death-wishing.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and right conduct. Here he criticizes a pattern of behavior in sickness—constant grieving, craving the state of the healthy, and repeatedly wishing for death—saying such an end is not fitting for a proud, honorable hero.