Prayers by Bhīṣmadeva

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 1: Creation.

Chapter 9:  The Passing Away of Bhīṣmadeva in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa

Text 32 - Text 42

Text 32

śrī-bhīṣma uvāca

iti matir upakalpitā vitṛṣṇā

bhagavati sātvata-puṅgave vibhūmni

sva-sukham upagate kvacid vihartuṁ

prakṛtim upeyuṣi yad-bhava-pravāhaḥ

Bhīṣmadeva said: Let me now invest my thinking, feeling and willing, which were so long engaged in different subjects and occupational duties, in the all-powerful Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is always self-satisfied, but sometimes, being the leader of the devotees, He enjoys transcendental pleasure by descending to the material world, although from Him only the material world is created.

Text 33

tri-bhuvana-kamanaṁ tamāla-varṇaṁ

ravi-kara-gaura-vara-ambaraṁ dadhāne

vapur alaka-kulāvṛtānanābjaṁ

vijaya-sakhe ratir astu me ’navadyā

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in His transcendental body, which resembles the bluish color of the tamāla tree. His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems [upper, middle and lower]. May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire fruitive results.

Text 34

yudhi turaga-rajo-vidhūmra-viṣvak-

kaca-lulita-śramavāry-alaṅkṛtāsye

mama niśita-śarair vibhidyamāna-

tvaci vilasat-kavace ’stu kṛṣṇa ātmā

On the battlefield [where Śrī Kṛṣṇa attended Arjuna out of friendship], the flowing hair of Lord Kṛṣṇa turned ashen due to the dust raised by the hoofs of the horses. And because of His labor, beads of sweat wetted His face. All these decorations, intensified by the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows, were enjoyed by Him. Let my mind thus go unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Text 35

sapadi sakhi-vaco niśamya madhye

nija-parayor balayo rathaṁ niveśya

sthitavati para-sainikāyur akṣṇā

hṛtavati pārtha-sakhe ratir mamāstu

In obedience to the command of His friend, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the arena of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra between the soldiers of Arjuna and Duryodhana, and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His merciful glance. This was done simply by His looking at the enemy. Let my mind be fixed upon that Kṛṣṇa.

Text 36

vyavahita-pṛtanā-mukhaṁ nirīkṣya

sva-jana-vadhād vimukhasya doṣa-buddhyā

kumatim aharad ātma-vidyayā yaś

caraṇa-ratiḥ paramasya tasya me ’stu

When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by delivering transcendental knowledge. May His lotus feet always remain the object of my attraction.

Text 37

sva-nigamam apahāya mat-pratijñām

ṛtam adhikartum avapluto rathasthaḥ

dhṛta-ratha-caraṇo ’bhyayāc caladgur

harir iva hantum ibhaṁ gatottarīyaḥ

Fulfilling my vow and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.

Text 38

śita-viśikha-hato viśīrṇa-daṁśaḥ

kṣataja-paripluta ātatāyino me

prasabham abhisasāra mad-vadhārthaṁ

sa bhavatu me bhagavān gatir mukundaḥ

May He, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who awards salvation, be my ultimate destination. On the battlefield He charged me, as if angry because of the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered, and His body was smeared with blood due to the wounds.

Text 39

vijaya-ratha-kuṭumbha ātta-totre

dhṛta-haya-raśmini tac-chriyekṣaṇīye

bhagavati ratir astu me mumūrṣor

yam iha nirīkṣya hatā gatāḥ sva-rūpam

At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna’s chariot by all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained their original forms after death.

Text 40

lalita-gati-vilāsa-valguhāsa-

praṇaya-nirīkṣaṇa-kalpitorumānāḥ

kṛtam anukṛtavatya unmadāndhāḥ

prakṛtim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvaḥ

Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhāma [the gopīs]. The damsels imitated the characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rāsa dance].

Text 41

muni-gaṇa-nṛpa-varya-saṅkule ’ntaḥ-

sadasi yudhiṣṭhira-rājasūya eṣām

arhaṇam upapeda īkṣaṇīyo

mama dṛśi-gocara eṣa āvir ātmā

At the Rājasūya-yajña [sacrifice] performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, there was the greatest assembly of all the elite men of the world, the royal and learned orders, and in that great assembly Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was worshiped by one and all as the most exalted Personality of Godhead. This happened during my presence, and I remembered the incident in order to keep my mind upon the Lord.

Text 42

tam imam aham ajaṁ śarīra-bhājāṁ

hṛdi hṛdi dhiṣṭhitam ātma-kalpitānām

pratidṛśam iva naikadhārkam ekaṁ

samadhi-gato ’smi vidhūta-bheda-mohaḥ

Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone’s heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone’s heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.