Shloka 10
Kṣātra-dharma in Campaign and Battle: Protection, Purification, and the Ideal Warrior’s End (क्षात्रधर्मः—अभियानयुद्धे रक्षणदानशुद्धिः)
ब्राह्मणार्थे समुत्पन्ने योडरिभि: सृत्य युध्यति । आत्मानं यूपमुत्सृज्य स यज्ञोडनन्तदक्षिण:
brāhmaṇārthe samutpanne yo 'ribhiḥ sṛtya yudhyati | ātmānaṃ yūpam utsṛjya sa yajño 'nantadakṣiṇaḥ ||
Bhishma berkata: Apabila timbul krisis demi melindungi seorang Brahmana, maka sesiapa yang melangkah ke hadapan dan bertempur melawan musuh, serta mempersembahkan tubuhnya sendiri laksana tiang korban yūpa dalam yajña, sesungguhnya melakukan suatu korban suci yang setara dengan upacara yang dikurniai dakṣiṇā yang tiada bertepi—pemberian kepada para pendeta yang tidak berkesudahan.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Defending a Brahmin in a righteous crisis—even at the cost of one’s own life—is treated as a supreme religious act: a living yajña whose ‘dakṣiṇā’ is limitless. The verse equates ethical self-offering for dharma with the highest sacrificial merit.
Bhishma is instructing on dharma in the Shanti Parva. He describes a scenario where enemies threaten a Brahmin; the protector who advances to fight and gives up his body is praised as performing a sacrifice, with the body likened to the yūpa (sacrificial post).