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 ||
भीष्म बोले—रोगी बार-बार नीरोग अवस्था की लालसा करता है और बार-बार मृत्यु भी चाहता है; परन्तु गर्वीला, स्वाभिमानी वीर ऐसी मृत्यु का अधिकारी नहीं—जो पीड़ा में विलाप करे, मुख विकृत करे, सेवकों के सामने निरन्तर शोक करे, नीरोगता को तरसे और रोग में ही बार-बार मरने की इच्छा करे।
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.