Mbh 12.298.1a

"'"Parasara said, 'The sires, the friends, the preceptor, and the spouses of the preceptors of men that are destitute of devotion are unable to give to those men the merits that attach to devotion. Only they that are firmly devoted to such seniors, that speak what is agreeable to them, that seek their welfare, and that are submissive to them in behaviour, can obtain the merit of devotion. The sire is the highest of deities with his children. It is said that the sire is superior to the mother. The attainment of Knowledge is regarded as the highest acquisition. They that have subjugated the objects of the senses (by attainment of Knowledge), acquire what is highest (viz., Emancipation). That Kshatriya prince who, repairing to the field of battle, receives wounds amid fiery shafts flying in all directions and burns therewith, certainly repairs to regions that are unattainable by the very deities and, arrived there, enjoys the felicity of heaven in perfect contentment. A Kshatriya should not, O king, strike one that is fatigued, or one that is frightened, or one that has been disarmed, or one that is weeping, or one that is unwilling to fight, or one that is unequipped with mail and cars and horse and infantry, or one that has ceased to exert oneself in the fight, or one that is ill, or one that cries for quarter, or one that is of tender years, or one that is old. A Kshatriya should, in battle, fight one of his order who is equipped with mail and cars and horse and infantry, who is ready for exertion and who occupies a position of equality. Death at the hands of one that is equal or of a superior is laudable, but not that at the hands of one that is low, or of one that is a coward, or of one that is a wretch. This is well-known. Death at the hands of one that is sinful, or of one that is of low birth and wicked conduct, O king, is inglorious and leads to hell. One whose period of life has run out cannot be rescued by anybody.