"Warriors are bound by their _dharma_ to join in battle against other warriors. A warrior who fails in his duty sins against the _dharma_ of his caste." Vasant Rao paused. "But why am I bothering to tell you this? I sound like Krishna, lecturing Arjuna on his duty as a warrior." "Who's Krishna? Another Rajput?" "He's a god, Captain Hawksworth, sacred to all Rajputs. He teaches us that a warrior must always honor his _dharma_." Vasant Rao's eyes seemed to burn through the shadows of the cell. From outside Hawksworth heard the distant chantings of some village ceremony. "If you'll listen, _feringhi_ captain, I'll tell you something about a warrior's _dharma_. There's a legend, many thousands of years old, of a great battle joined between two branches of a powerful dynasty in ancient India. Two kings were brothers, and they shared a kingdom, but their sons could not live in peace. One branch wished to destroy the other. Eventually a battle was joined, a battle to the death. As they waited on the field for the sound of the conch shell, to summon the forces, the leader of those sons who had been wronged suddenly declared that he could not bring himself to kill his own kinsmen. But the god Krishna, who was charioteer for this son, reminded him he must follow his _dharma_. That there is no greater good for a warrior than to join battle for what is right. It's wrong only if he is attached to the fruits of battle, if he does it for gain. It's told in the Bhagavad- Gita, a Sanskrit scripture sacred to all warriors. I was reciting a verse from Chapter Twelve when you woke." "What did this god Krishna say?" "He declared that all who live must die, and all who die will be reborn. The spirit within us all, the _atman_, cannot be destroyed. It travels through us on its journey from birth to rebirth. But it's not correct to say merely that it exists. It is existence. It is the only reality. It is present in everything because it is everything. Therefore there's no need to mourn for death. There is no death. The body is merely an appearance, by which the _atman_ reveals itself. The body is only its guardian. But a warrior who turns away from the duty of his caste sins against his honor and his _dharma_. Krishna warned that this loss of honor could one day lead to the mixture of castes, and then the dharma of the universe, its necessary order, would be destroyed. It's not wrong for a Rajput to kill a worthy foe, Captain Hawksworth, it's his duty. Just as it's also his duty to die a worthy death." "Why all this killing in the name of 'honor' and 'duty"?"