Bhagavatam study 46 1.9.25-30 Bhishma’s departure is glorious in every way

Thank you.
So, here, the chapter entitled Passing away of Bhishma Dev in the presence of Lord Krishna. In this chapter, the Pandavas approached Bhishma Pitāmahā when he is in his arrow bed, which is going to be his, the bed from which he departs from this world. And, while he is, so, he consoles Yudhishthira Mahārāja and he guides Yudhishthira Mahārāja.
So, after Yudhishthira Mahārāja is recovered from his initial gripping grief, which has made him disconsolate, he then, immediately sees this opportunity to enrich himself with the boundless wisdom that Bhishma Pitāmahā has. So, he still, so, he therefore will start asking various questions about various subjects. So, Yudhishthira stadhākaraṇyā.
So, after he having heard, in this way, śayānāṁ śarapaṇyare, after having heard him speak thus, on an arrow bed, śayānāṁ, while he was lying down on the arrow bed, śarapaṇyare, aprucchad vividhāndharmān, he asked about various dharmas, vividhāndharmān. rśināṁ cānuśruṇvatāṁ, rśināṁ, in the presence of the great rishis, cānuśruṇvatāṁ, after hearing, anuśruṇvatāṁ. So, after he heard, Mahārāja Bhishma consoled him, then he asked, rśināṁ cānuśruṇvatāṁ, in the presence of the rishis, that indicates that, actually, Bhishma Pitāmaha was greater than the rishis.
Normally, kṣatriyas hear from the sages, and often, these, either kṣatriyas may go to the forest to hear from the sages, or if the sages come to the palaces, the kṣatriyas hear from them. And, here, when Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, in the presence of the sages, and earlier it has been described how, it was practically a list of the universes, who’s who, all the greatest sages of the universe were present over there, and even in their presence, when, Bhishma, Bhishma is asked the questions by Yudhiṣṭhira, because Yudhiṣṭhira, who is actually, at this point, the king of the world, the de facto monarch of the world, so the most influential person in the world, is, effectively, declaring, Bhishma Pitāmaha to be the most powerful person, most learned person in the world, because he is chosen to answer questions, even in the presence of others who are much more learned. So, text 26, puruṣa-svabhāva-vihitān yathāvarṇam yathāśramam vairāgya rāgopādhibhyām āmnāto bhaya-lakṣaṇān puruṣa-svabhāva-vihitān puruṣa-svabhāva-vihitān So, vividhān, various subjects that were mentioned in the previous verse.
So now, what are the subjects about which questions were asked, that’s mentioned here. puruṣa-svabhāva, the nature of people, vihitān, as is prescribed, yathāvarṇam yathāśramam yathāvarṇam yathāśramam So, people’s varṇa and āśrama is decided according to their nature, and accordingly they have their prescribed duties. Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja asked about the nature of duties of people according to their varṇa and their āśrama.
vairāgya rāgopādhibhyām vairāgya attachment, rāga, attachment upādhibhyām, designated designations. āmnāto bhaya-lakṣaṇan āmnāta, systematically bhaya, both lakṣaṇan, symptoms. So, there are various varṇas and āśramas, these are all ordained according to people’s natures, and depending on whether people are attached or they are detached, they have different prescribed duties.
So, all such duties Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja asked. So, essentially Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja understands that now he is in a position where he has to lead and guide the whole world, and for doing such leading and guiding, he needs a comprehensive wisdom, not just the wisdom about any one particular subject, but he also needs some understanding of everything. Viviṣṭhira Prabhupāda defined knowledge as to know everything about something and to know something about everything.
That means we need to have a specialization where we are good at and where we can learn, where we can learn deeply and we can contribute substantially, but at the same time we cannot be unidimensional specialists where we don’t know about other subject matters. So, we need to know about all subject matters, and that is what is discussed in this. That’s what Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja learned from Mahārāja, from Bhīṣma Kitāvā, text 27.
So, the word dharma is multivalent, it has many many different meanings. so, especially those who are one of their important duties is charity. So, dāna-dharmān, rāja-dharmān, so, dāna is one duty of gṛhasthas, but along with that, Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja is not just any other gṛhastha, he is the king.
So, therefore, rāja-dharmān, as a king, mokṣa-dharmān, and ultimately, all people in their various duties are meant to progress towards mokṣa, but those especially who have renounced the world, their focus is almost exclusively on the pursuit of mokṣa. These are all various duties which are there for different people, and Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja tried to understand all these duties, he inquired about these. Now, he had some knowledge, but he wanted to refine and deepen his knowledge, and thus he asked Bhīṣma Kitāvā, śrī-dharmān bhagavad-dharmān samāsavyāsa-yogatah śrī-dharmān Gender roles are often a source of great confusion in today’s world, and gender roles need to be clearly understood for the various, for people, for people of different gender to be able to contribute in a harmonious way in society.
So, Viviṣṭhira Mahārāja asked about śrī-dharma, because he also, because he is the king, he is the protector of everyone, including women, and one form of protection is also giving proper engagement so that they can also, so that protection is not just physical, protecting people from danger and death, that, if we consider that kind of protection, even a prison offers protection, but that protection is restriction. Protection, all-round protection means protection that helps people grow, helps people contribute, that helps people feel that they are doing something worthwhile in their life. That way, we don’t just protect their body, we protect their mind also, and ultimately we protect their soul, because we give them an opportunity to develop their bhakti for Krishna.
So, all these are encompassed in protection. So, śrī-dharma, bhagavad-dharma, bhagavad-dharma refers here to the bhagavad-dharma. So, there is a list of various dharmas that is talked about.
It’s significant that that list culminates in bhagavad-dharma. Underlying and unifying the various diverse dharmas is the principle that all souls are ultimately parts of Krishna and all souls are meant to serve Bhagavan Krishna. The specific ways in which they may serve will be different, but the principle is that they do need to serve, and that service is what is what is the underlying unifying aspect for all of us.
So, by… generally and specifically, he understood all those duties. He inquired and he learned about them. Prabhupāda in these purports gives elaborate explanations about what these duties are and how these duties are to be performed.
So, we are focusing on the overall flow of the bhāgavatam and understanding the broad concepts therein. So, let’s go on to the next verse. Text 28 dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣāṁś ca sahopāyaññathā muni yāññathā muni nā nā nā nā saṅkhyāṇe tihāseṣu varṇayāmāsa tattvavet So, dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣāṁś these are the four purushārthas along with the methods yathā muni as they were, as is appropriate O sages nā nā ākhyāṇā So now, this principle of dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣāṁś you know, they can be talked as concepts or they can be illustrated through incidents, through historical stories a very important principle in when the culture is to look at the precedence of previous acharyas and learn from them.
So nana akhyana itihasa itihase shu. So the recitation of various historical tales from the past, varnayamasa tattvavet, varnayamasa, it is described one who is, one who knows the truth, tattvavet. So in this way, various aspects of living Bhishma Pitamah is describing.
The word tattvavet is very significant. Krishna uses the word tattvavet in the Bhagavad Gita to refer to those who are the knowers of spiritual knowledge, those who can be the imparters of spiritual knowledge. In the famous verse 4.32, he says tadviddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya upadekshante jnanam jnaninas tattvadarshinah.
The word tattvadarshinah is similar to tattvavet, the point is the tattva, to see the truth, to know the truth. The word tattvavet also comes, this is in 4.34, the word tattvavet also comes tattvavet guna karma vibhagayo guna gune shuvartanta itimattvana sajyate, this is 3.28, Krishna says that what is work within the world, what is work beyond the modes, all such things the tattvavet understands, the tattvadarshi knows how to impart real knowledge to followers. So the point here is that Bhishma Pitamah was tattvavet and thus he gave knowledge about various subject matters.
So there are four purusharthas and they are important aspirations for human life. The same Bhagavatam earlier has talked about how all the purusharthas should be dovetailed towards the pancham purushartha of prema. dharmasya apavargasya nartho arthayopakalpate narthasya dharmaikantasya kamo labhaya ismutajeevasyat In these two verses, in the early part of the Bhagavatam, in the second chapter itself, the point is made in 2.9 and roughly it is written that all these purusharthas should be used ultimately for the pursuit of apavarga, for ultimate liberation.
So the interrelationship of the various purusharthas is well known to Bhishma Pitamah and thus he is guiding people to move forwards by giving the knowledge to the leader of the people that is Yudhishthira Maharaj. Text 29 dharmam pravadatastasya sakalha pratyupasthitaha yo yoginas chanda mrtyor vanchitas tutarayanaha So dharmam pravadatastasya, while he was describing dharma in this way, in his various analytical detail, when he was describing, at that time what happened? sakalha pratyupasthitaha sakalha, that time appeared, pratyupasthitaha, it appeared. What was that time? yo yoginas chanda mrtyor, that time which the yogis who desire to depart according to their will, chanda mrtyor, those who wish to depart thus, vanchitas tu, this is the time that they desire, vanchita, so vancha kalpataru we say, that year they desire fulfillment to utarayanaha, utarayanaha is the time when the sun is in the uttara, the northern direction.
So now here, this subject has been talked about in the eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, attaining the supreme, as Sri Prabhupada titles it, Akshara Brahma Yoga, as is often titled in Sanskrit and here the point is that, at least there in the eighth chapter, point is that Bhishma, Krishna actually in that chapter talks about how departure at a particular time, utarayana is auspicious, that leads to liberation, departure in Dakshinayana, that also leads to elevation, but not liberation, and from that elevated position one returns back here. And then Krishna concludes that section by describing, he says that do not get confused by these two paths, or Arjuna, ultimately if you just focus on being engaged in yoga, you will attain perfection, naitya, sruti, partha, janan, yogi muhiyati kashyana, or Arjuna or Partha, know that those who know the truth, they do not get bewildered, the yogis, get bewildered by these two paths, because the path of yoga elevates one’s consciousness to a higher spiritual level. And from that spiritual level of consciousness, anyone and everyone can move forward towards perfection.
So here, the Acharya described that Bhishma Pitamah did not have to leave his body in utarayana alone, he could have left his body anytime, and because he was always absorbed in devotion to Krishna, because he is an exalted devotee, he would have attained the perfection of life irrespective of when he departed. But Krishna had arranged a plan for him, that Bhishma, he had done a great sacrifice for Krishna’s sake, Bhishma had fought against Krishna. Apparently, at least if we look at the Mahabharata and read the Mahabharata superficially, then it appears as if Bhishma was bound by monetary considerations.
And simply because of monetary considerations, he gave up his affection for his virtuous nephews, the Pandavas, and he sided with his vicious nephews, the Kauravas. Actually, they were not the nephews, you could call them, both of them were his grand nephews. So, often he is called as a grandsire.
But he was not exactly the grandsire, he was the, we could use the word grand uncle. But either way, the point is that some people may think that he sided, he chose the wrong side. But Bhishma, he was inspired by the law from within, so that he would be able to teach a very extraordinary lesson.
That lesson was that no matter how powerful, no matter how glorious, no matter how renowned, resourceful, indoubtable a person may be, if they fight against Krishna, then they will be defeated, then they will not be able to succeed. So, Krishna wanted this principle to be demonstrated. And for demonstrating this principle, he had arranged that although Bhishma fought on the wrong side, although Bhishma was defeated, here now Krishna will demonstrate how Bhishma was ultimately victorious.
There are, in every way, Bhishma’s departure will turn out to be auspicious and glorious. From the mundane perspective, of course, death is tragic. But still, if a person is going to die surrounded by one’s loved ones, and even till the moment of death, one has had the respect and the affection, the reverence of one’s loved ones.
Sometimes when people become old, others, the younger people often lose their respect for the elder. But if someone has had the respect, even to the last moment, and not just one has others respect, but one has one’s own wisdom and one’s own consciousness still clear. Nowadays, it is quite tragic when people as they age, they sometimes get some degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
And then they can’t function, not only can they not function properly in terms of physically functioning, but they can’t function properly also in terms of emotionally, in terms of intellectually or intellectually be able to process things properly. They may have occasional moments of lucidity. So if a person has lucidity till the moment of death, that is also considered fortunate.
And if one has so much lucidity, that one can instruct the most powerful person in the universe at that time. And one can instruct in the presence of others who are considered to be greatly learned, great sages. And that is also a great fortune.
And so from the material perspective, Bhishma’s departure has these ideal attributes in all these perspectives. He was dying in the presence of his loved ones. He was dying while having his lucidity and instructing the most powerful ruler of the earth at that time and instructing them in the presence of the most powerful of sages who were among the most learned people over there.
He was demonstrating his glory. And further from the devotional perspective, as it is demonstrated, he would depart from this world in the presence of Krishna. So that is devotionally auspicious.
Krishna himself says in the 8th chapter of the Gita that we should remember him at the time of death, then we will attain him. And for remembering him at the time of death, we need to remember him before. So, antakaaleechi maameva smaranmuktvaakalevaram yah prayatisamadbhavam yathinasthyatra samshayah.
He says in 8.5 that those who remember him at the time of death, they surely attain him. And then he gives a general principle about such remembrance. And then he gives a specific instruction.
He says, pasmat sarveshu kaaleshu maamanusmarayudhyacha mayy arpitamanao buddhir maameva isyasya samshayaha. He says, therefore, externally do your duty and internally remember me. Or rather, first remember me always and then do your external duty also.
And by so doing, you can attain perfection. Mayy arpitamanao buddhir. Those whose intelligence is devoted to me, they will surely attain me, Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, from the devotional perspective, there is nothing more auspicious than remembering Krishna at the time of death. And if Krishna is present right in front of one, giving one’s own darshan to the person, then that indicates Krishna’s presence, Krishna’s mercy. And that is almost a very, very strong pointer or even guarantor of spiritual success.
But even from the material perspective, Krishna wanted to demonstrate that Bhishma would not be the loser, he would be the winner. So, for those who are from that time, there were people who had beliefs, different kinds of beliefs at that time, not everyone was a pure devotee. Of course, there are many pure devotees, but there are also people who are karmakandis, there are followers of Jnana, there are people who are followers of Ashtanga Yoga.
And here, Krishna wanted to convey to them that the Bhakti Yogi may not follow the process of Ashtanga Yoga in terms of that one has to go to a forest and one has to live in a secluded place. And even if the Bhakti follower does not do all these things, still, by Krishna’s mercy, such a person will become elevated. And they will become elevated and then move towards liberation, such is the extraordinary mercy of Krishna.
So, even from the point of view of a yogic perspective, Bhishma’s departing at the auspicious time indicates that he was successful, he attained a successful death. So, Rani, that speech which had distributed itself on many, many subjects matters, that speech withdrew itself to focus on one subject matter, vimukta-sangam man-adipurushe, vimukta-sangam, that speech freed itself from all other subjects, mana, the mind and adipurushe, under the original primeval person, it was fixed, krishna-lasat-pita-pate-chatur-bhuje, under that krishna-lasat-pita-pate-chatur-bhuje, with yellow garments, pita-pate-chatur-bhuje, under the four-handed original Narayan, puraha, just before him, sthite-amilit-drukha-vyadharayat. So, he focused on that, that form, that person, who was original Narayan, who was standing in front of him and he absorbed himself in the meditation on that Lord Narayan.
Now, while absorbed thus in the remembrance of Krishna, what he spoke, how he offered extraordinary emotional prayers, that will be described in next words. So, here again, the withdrawal of his senses from everything else, his senses and mind and his speech from everything else and focus on Narayan, who is chatur-bhuja, that also points towards Bhishma attaining yogic perfection. The yogis in the stage of samadhi, they withdraw their consciousness from anything else, everything else.
And in samadhi, they fix their consciousness on Vishnu. So, the Bhagavatam is continuing with the theme of depicting how Bhishma attains success, even in the light of yoga, that he focused on Vishnu, on Vishnu-Narayan, who had manifested in front of him. And thus, Bhishma’s life was successful in every sense of