Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 33


Sanskrit:

द्वौ सम्मताविह मृत्यू दुरापौयद् ब्रह्मसन्धारणया जितासु: ।कलेवरं योगरतो विजह्याद्यदग्रणीर्वीरशयेऽनिवृत्त: ॥ ३३ ॥

ITRANS:

dvau sammatāv iha mṛtyū durāpauyad brahma-sandhāraṇayā jitāsuḥkalevaraṁ yoga-rato vijahyādyad agraṇīr vīra-śaye ’nivṛttaḥ

Translation:

There are two ways to meet a glorious death, and both are very rare. One is to die after performing mystic yoga, especially bhakti-yoga, by which one can control the mind and living force and die absorbed in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The second is to die on the battlefield, leading the army and never showing one’s back. These two kinds of death are recommended in the śāstra as glorious.

Purport: