Samsaptaka (saṃśaptaka)

The samsaptakas are warriors sworn together to conquer or die, a suicide corps who take an oath before the fire that they will not return alive from the field. Susharma and the Trigartas take this oath specifically to draw Arjuna to the far end of the battlefield so that Drona can seize Yudhishthira, and they succeed well enough that Abhimanyu has to face the chakravyuha alone. They are the epic's clearest picture of a vow used as a tactic.