Shloka 50
“महाबाहो! अपने धर्ममें स्थित रहनेवाले क्षत्रियको युद्धस्थलमें इसी प्रकार बाणशय्यापर शयन करना चाहिये! ।।
mahābāho! svadharme sthitaḥ kṣatriyo yuddhasthale evam eva bāṇaśayyāyāṃ śayīta. evam uktvā tu bībhatsuṃ sarvās tān abravīd vacaḥ; rājñaś ca rājaputrāṃś ca pāṇḍavān abhisthitān—arjunam evam uktvā bhīṣmaḥ pāṇḍavān prati sthitān sarvān rājñaḥ rājaputrāṃś ca uvāca.
Sañjaya disse: “Ó de braços poderosos! O kṣatriya que permanece firme em seu próprio dharma deve, no campo de batalha, deitar-se assim—mesmo sobre um leito de flechas.” Tendo dito isso a Arjuna, Bhīṣma então se dirigiu a todos aqueles reis e príncipes que estavam de pé junto aos Pāṇḍava.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents kshatriya-dharma as unwavering commitment to one’s rightful duty in war: even extreme pain—symbolized by lying on a bed of arrows—is to be endured without abandoning the warrior’s code of honor and responsibility.
Bhishma, already fallen and lying on the arrow-bed, speaks to Arjuna and then turns to address the assembled kings and princes near the Pandavas, using his own condition to underscore the ideal of steadfastness in battle and the ethical gravity of a kshatriya’s role.