. The very gods with Indra at their head send
calamities unto them that desert their comrades in battle and come with
unwounded limbs. He who desires to save his own life-breaths by deserting
his comrades, should be slain with sticks or stones or rolled in a mat of
dry grass for being burnt to death. Those amongst the Kshatriyas that
would be guilty of such conduct should be killed after the manner of
killing animals.[289] Death on a bed of repose, after ejecting phlegm and
urine and uttering piteous cries, is sinful for a Kshatriya. Persons
acquainted with the scriptures do not applaud the death which a Kshatriya
encounters with unwounded body. The death of a Kshatriya, O sire, at home
is not praiseworthy. They are heroes. Any unheroic act of theirs is
sinful and inglorious. In disease, one may be heard to cry, saying, 'What
sorrow! How painful! I must be a great sinner.' With face emaciated and
stench issuing from in his body and clothes, the sick man plunges his
relatives into grief. Coveting the condition of those that are hale, such
a man (amidst his tortures) repeatedly desires for death itself. One that
is a hero, having dignity and pride, does not deserve such an inglorious
death. Surrounded by kinsmen and slaughtering his foes in battle, a
Kshatriya should die at the edge of keen weapons. Moved by desire of
enjoyment and filled with rage, a hero fights furiously and does not feel
the wounds inflicted on his limbs by foes. Encountering death in battle,
he earns that high merit fraught with fame and respect of the world which
belongs to his order and ultimately obtains a residence in Indra's
heaven. The hero, by not showing his back in fight and contending by
every means in his power, in utter recklessness of life itself, at the
van of battle, obtains the companionship of Indra. Wherever the hero
encountered death in the midst of foes without displaying ignoble fear
or cheerlessness, he has succeeded in earning regions hereafter of
eternal bliss."'"

SECTION XCVIII

"'Yudhishthira said, "Tell me, O grand-sire, what regions are earned by
unreturning heroes by encountering death in battle."

"'Bhishma said, "In this connection, O Yudhishthira, is cited the old
story of the discourse between Amvarisha and Indra. Amvarisha, the son of
Nabhaga, having repaired to heaven that is so difficult of acquisition,
beheld his own generalissimo in those celestial regions in the company of
Indra. The king saw his puissant