Shloka 6
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
किंतु जिसके पास युद्धका सामान हो, जो युद्धके लिये तैयार हो और अपने बराबरका हो, संग्रामभूमिमें उस क्षत्रियकुमारको राजा अवश्य जीतनेका प्रयत्न करे ।।
tulyād iha vadhaḥ śreyān viśiṣṭāc ceti niścayaḥ | nihīnāt kātarāc caiva kṛpaṇād garhito vadhaḥ ||
パラーシャラは言った。「王は、戦の具を備え、戦う覚悟を定め、戦場において己と同等の力をもつそのクシャトリヤの王子を、戦において必ず打ち破ろうと努めるべきである。兵法に通じた者たちの定説によれば、同等の者—あるいはそれ以上の英雄—の手に斃れることはむしろ望ましい。だが、劣る者、臆病者、卑しくみじめな者の手による死は恥辱とされる。」
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
In kṣatriya ethics, combat should be undertaken against a properly prepared and worthy opponent; being slain by an equal or superior is considered honorable, while death at the hands of an inferior, cowardly, or base person is viewed as disgraceful.
Parāśara is instructing on norms of righteous warfare and royal conduct: a king should engage and seek victory over a battle-ready peer, and he cites the war-tradition’s judgment about what kinds of death in combat are praised or censured.