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,“यह बड़ा दुःख है। बड़ी पीड़ा हो रही है! यह मेरे किसी महान् पापका सूचक है।' इस प्रकार आर्तनाद करना, विकृत-मुख हो जाना, दुर्गन्धित शरीरसे मन्त्रियोंके लिये निरन्तर शोक करना, नीरोग मनुष्योंकी-सी स्थिति प्राप्त करनेकी कामना करना और वर्तमान रुग्णावस्थामें बारंबार मृत्युकी इच्छा रखना--ऐसी मौत किसी स्वाभिमानी वीरके योग्य नहीं है
arogāṇāṁ spṛhayate muhur mṛtyum apīcchati | vīro dṛpto 'bhimānī ca nedṛśaṁ mṛtyum arhati ||
Bhīṣma disse: “O enfermo anseia pela condição dos saudáveis e, vez após vez, chega até a desejar a morte. Mas um guerreiro—orgulhoso e cioso de sua honra—não merece tal morte: lamentar-se na agonia, com o rosto desfigurado, entristecer-se sem cessar diante dos seus, cobiçar a saúde e desejar repetidamente morrer enquanto ainda está doente. Esse fim é indigno de quem vive pela honra.”
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.