kiá¹ va uccaritair mÄtur
dhÄvadbhiḥ pṛṣá¹hato hataiḥ
na hi bhÄ«ta-vadhaḥ Å›lÄghyo
na svargyaḥ śūra-mÄninÄm
kim - what is the benefit; vaḥ - for you; uccaritaiḥ - with those like the stool; mÄtuḥ - of the mother; dhÄvadbhiḥ - running away; pṛṣá¹hataḥ - from the back; hataiḥ - killed; na - not; hi - certainly; bhÄ«ta-vadhaḥ - the killing of a person who is afraid; Å›lÄghyaḥ - glorious; na - nor; svargyaḥ - leading to the heavenly planets; śūra-mÄninÄm - of persons who consider themselves heroes.
Vá¹›trÄsura rebuked both the demigods and the demoniac soldiers because the demons were running in fear of their lives and the demigods were killing them from behind. The actions of both were abominable. When a fight takes place, the opposing parties must be prepared to fight like heroes. A hero never runs from the field of battle. He always fights face to face, determined to gain victory or lay down his life in the fight. That is heroic. Killing an enemy from behind is also inglorious. When an enemy turns his back and runs in fear of his life, he should not be killed. This is the etiquette of military science.
Vá¹›trÄsura insulted the demoniac soldiers by comparing them to the stool of their mothers. Both stool and a cowardly son come from the abdomen of the mother, and Vá¹›trÄsura said that there is no difference between them. A similar comparison was given by TulasÄ« dÄsa, who commented that a son and urine both come from the same channel. In other words, semen and urine both come from the genitals, but semen produces a child whereas urine produces nothing. Therefore if a child is neither a hero nor a devotee, he is not a son but urine. Similarly, CÄṇakya Paṇá¸ita also says:
ko ’rthaḥ putreṇa jÄtena
yo na vidvÄn na dhÄrmikaḥ
kÄṇena caká¹£uá¹£Ä kiá¹ vÄ
caká¹£uḥ pÄ«á¸aiva kevalam
“What is the use of a son who is neither glorious nor devoted to the Lord? Such a son is like a blind eye, which simply gives pain but cannot help one see.â€