Shloka 26
Kṣātra-dharma in Campaign and Battle: Protection, Purification, and the Ideal Warrior’s End (क्षात्रधर्मः—अभियानयुद्धे रक्षणदानशुद्धिः)
इदं दुःखं महत् कष्ट पापीय इति निष्टनन् । प्रतिध्वस्तमुख: पूतिरमात्याननुशोचयन्
idaṃ duḥkhaṃ mahat kaṣṭa pāpīya iti niṣṭanan | pratidhvastamukhaḥ pūtir amātyān anuśocayan |
ພີສະມະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «‘ນີ້ແມ່ນຄວາມໂສກໃຫຍ່, ເປັນຄວາມທຸກທໍລະມານຢ່າງໜັກ—ແນ່ນອນຕ້ອງເປັນເຄື່ອງຊີ້ບອກບາບຫນັກຂອງຂ້າ’ ແລ້ວຮ້ອງໄຫ້ຄາງຄາ; ໃບໜ້າບິດເບື້ອນແລະຫົວຕໍ່າ; ກາຍມີກິ່ນເໝັນ; ໂສກເສົ້າບໍ່ຂາດຕໍ່ບັນດາອຳມາດແລະຜູ້ຕິດຕາມ; ປາຖະໜາຈະກັບໄປສູ່ສະພາບຄົນແຂງແຮງ; ແລະໃນຍາມເຈັບໄຂ້ນີ້ກໍປາຖະໜາຄວາມຕາຍຊ້ຳໆ—ການຕາຍແບບນີ້ບໍ່ສົມກັບວີລະບຸລຸດຜູ້ຮັກກຽດສັກສີ»។
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that a noble person—especially a self-respecting warrior—should meet suffering and death with steadiness, not with self-pitying lamentation, obsessive fear, or repeated wishing for death; dignity, restraint, and courage are ethical ideals even in illness.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhīṣma describes an undignified response to sickness and impending death—wailing, becoming disfigured in expression, neglecting oneself, and grieving for one’s ministers—then condemns such a death as unworthy of a proud hero.