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 berkata: “Orang sakit mendambakan keadaan orang sihat dan, berkali-kali, bahkan menginginkan maut. Namun seorang pahlawan—yang bangga dan menjaga harga diri—tidak patut menerima kematian seperti itu: meratap dalam kesakitan, wajahnya herot, terus bersedih di hadapan para pengiring, mengidamkan kembali kesihatan, dan berulang kali mengharap mati ketika masih sakit. Pengakhiran demikian tidak layak bagi yang hidup dengan kehormatan.”
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.