Shloka 21
Kṣātra-dharma in Campaign and Battle: Protection, Purification, and the Ideal Warrior’s End (क्षात्रधर्मः—अभियानयुद्धे रक्षणदानशुद्धिः)
अस्वस्ति तेभ्य: कुर्वन्ति देवा इन्द्रपुरोगमा: । त्यागेन यः सहायानां स्वान् प्राणांस्त्रातुमिच्छति
asvasti tebhyaḥ kurvanti devā indrapurogamāḥ | tyāgena yaḥ sahāyānāṃ svān prāṇāṃs trātum icchati |
毗湿摩说道：“诸天以因陀罗为首，不赐安泰于那等为保全自身而弃同伴者。凡舍弃助战之人、只求自保者，必被烙为懦夫；当为同族刹帝利所唾弃并严惩，因为他违犯了武士之律——忠义与共赴危难。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A warrior must not preserve himself by deserting comrades; abandoning allies is adharma and invites divine disfavor and social condemnation. The verse elevates solidarity and shared risk as essential to kṣatriya conduct.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct. Here he censures the coward who tries to save his life by forsaking companions, stating that the gods led by Indra withhold auspiciousness from such a person and that fellow warriors should treat him as dishonorable.