Shloka 4
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
क्षत्रियका पुत्र यदि समरांगणमें घायल होकर बाणोंकी चितापर दग्ध होता है तो वह देवदुर्लभ लोकोंमें जाता और वहाँ आनन्दपूर्वक स्वर्गीय-सुख भोगता है ।।
kṣatriyakā putra yadi samarāṅgaṇeṁ ghāyala hokara bāṇoṁ kī citā par dagdha hotā hai to vah devadurlabha lokoṁ meṁ jātā aur vahāṁ ānandapūrvak svargīya-sukha bhogatā hai || śrāntaṁ bhītaṁ bhraṣṭaśastraṁ rudantaṁ parāṅmukhaṁ paribaddhaśva-hīnam | anudyantaṁ rogiṇaṁ yācamānaṁ na vai hiṁsyathā bāla-vṛddhau ca rājan ||
波罗舍罗说道：“若刹帝利之子在战场受伤，复被箭作之柴的火葬所焚，他便往生于连诸天神也难以到达的世界，并在彼处欢然享受天界之乐。然而，大王啊，不可击杀那已疲惫、惊惶、弃置兵刃、啼哭、背身逃遁、失却战马与装备、已止息战斗之志、患病、或乞求活命的敌人；也不可杀害年幼或年迈之敌。”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage balances valor with restraint: heroic death in righteous battle is praised as leading to exalted realms, yet dharma forbids killing those who are helpless—exhausted, weaponless, fleeing, sick, pleading, or too young/old—because such killing violates the ethical limits of warfare.
Parāśara instructs a king on proper conduct in war. He first states the merit and heavenly reward associated with a Kṣatriya who dies wounded in battle, then immediately lays down prohibitions against slaying certain categories of vulnerable enemies, defining what honorable combat must exclude.