Chapter 51

“Vaisampayana said, ‘King Yudhishthira, hearing of those feats of Rama,became filled with wonder and said unto Janardana, O thou of Vrishni’srace, the prowess of the high-souled Rama, who in wrath had freed theearth of Kshatriyas, was like that of Sakra himself. The scions ofKshatriyas, troubled with the fear of Rama, were concealed (and broughtup) by kine, Ocean, leopards, bears and apes. Worthy of every praise isthis world of men and fortunate are they that reside in it where a feat,that, was again so righteous, was accomplished by a. Brahmana.’ Afterthis discourse was ended, those two illustrious persons, viz., Krishna ofunfading glory and Yudhishthira proceeded thither where the puissant sonof Ganga lay on his bed of arrows. They then beheld Bhishma stretched onhis arrowy bed and resembling in splendour the evening San covered withhis own rays. The Kuru hero was surrounded by many ascetics like he of ahundred sacrifices by the deities of heaven. The spot on which he lay washighly sacred, being situate on the banks of the river Oghavati.Beholding him from a distance, Krishna and Dharma’s royal son, and thefour Pandavas, and the other headed by Saradwat, alighted from theirvehicles and collecting their restless minds and concentrating all theirsenses, approached the great Rishis. Saluting those foremost of Rishisheaded by Vyasa. Govinda and Satyaki and the others approached the son ofGanga. Beholding Ganga’s son of great ascetic merit, the Yadu and Kuruprinces, those foremost of men, took their seats, surrounding him. SeeingBhishma looking like a fire about to die out, Kesava with a rathercheerless heart addressed him as follows.’

“Kesava said, ‘Are thy perceptions now as clear as before? I hope thyunderstanding, O foremost of eloquent men, is not clouded. I hope thylimbs are not tortured by the pain arising from the wounds by shafts.From mental grief also the body becomes weak. In consequences of the boongranted to thee by thy sire, the righteous Santanu, thy death, O puissanthero, depends on thy own will. I myself have not that merit inconsequence of which thou hast obtained this boon. The minutest pin(inserted) within the body produces pain. What need then be said, O king,of hundreds of arrows that have pierced thee? Surely, pain cannot be saidto afflict thee. Thou art competent, O Bharata, to instruct the very godsregarding the origin and dissolution of living creatures. Possessed ofgreat knowledge, everything belonging to the Past, the Future, and thePresent, is well known to thee. The dissolution of created beings and thereward of righteousness are well known to thee, O thou of great wisdom,for thou art an ocean of virtue and duty. While living in the enjoymentof swelling sovereignty, I beheld thee forgo female intercourse thoughsound of limbs and perfectly hale and though surrounded by femalecompanions. Except Santanu’s son Bhishma of great energy and firmlydevoted to righteousness, possessed of heroism and having virtue for theonly object of his pursuit, we have never heard of any other person inthe three worlds that could, by his ascetic power, though lying on a bedof arrows and at the point of death, still have such a complete masteryover death (as to keep it thus at bay). We have never heard of anybodyelse that was so devoted to truth, to penances, to gifts, to theperformances of sacrifices, to the science of arms, to the Vedas, and tothe protection of persons soliciting protection, and that was so harmlessto all creatures, so pure in behaviour, so self-restrained, and so bentupon the good of all creatures, and that was also so great a car-warrioras thee. Without doubt, thou art competent to subjugate, on a single car,the gods, Gandharvas, Asuras, Yakshas, and Rakshasas. O mighty-armedBhishma, thou art always spoken of by the Brahmanas as the ninth of theVasus. By thy virtues, however, thou hast surpassed them all and artequal unto Vasava himself. I know, O best of persons, that thou artcelebrated for thy prowess, O foremost of beings, among even the verygods. Among men on earth, O foremost of men, we have never seen nor heardof any one possessed of such attributes as thee. O thou of the royalorder, thou surpassest the gods themselves in respect of every attribute.By thy ascetic power thou canst create a universe of mobile and immobilecreatures. What need then be said of thy having acquired many blessedregions by means of thy foremost of virtues? Dispel now the grief of theeldest son of Panda who is burning with sorrow on account of theslaughter of his kinsmen. All the duties that have been declared inrespect of the four orders about the four modes of life are well known tothee. Everything again that is indicated in the four branches ofknowledge, in the four Hotras, O Bharata, as also those eternal dutiesthat are laid down in Yoga and Sankhya philosophy, the duties too of thefour orders and these duties that are not inconsistent with theirdeclared practices,–all these, along with their interpretations, O sonof Ganga, are known to thee. The duties that have been laid down forthose sprang from an intermixture of the four orders and those laid downfor particular countries and tribes and families, and those declared bythe Vedas and by men of wisdom, are all well known to thee. The subjectsof histories and the Puranas are all known to thee. All the scripturestreating of duty and practice dwell in thy mind. Save thee, O bull amongmen, there is no other person that can remove the doubts that may arisein respect of those subjects of knowledge that are studied in the world.With the aid of thy intelligence, do thou, O prince of men, drive thesorrow felt by the son of Pandu. Persons possessed of so great and suchvaried knowledge live only for comforting men whose minds have beenstupefied.’

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Hearing those words of Vasudeva of greatintelligence, Bhishma, raising his head a little, said these words withjoined hands.’

“Bhishma said, ‘Salutations to thee, O divine Krishna! Thou art theorigin and thou art the dissolution of all the worlds. Thou art theCreator and thou art the Destroyer. Thou, O Hrishikesa, art incapable ofbeing vanquished by any one. The universe is the handiwork. Thou art thesoul of the universe and the universe hath sprung from thee. Salutationsto thee! Thou art the end of all created things. Thou art above the fiveelements. Salutations to thee that art the three worlds and that artagain above the three worlds. O lord of Yogins, salutations to thee thatart the refuge of everything. O foremost of beings, those words whichthou hast said regarding me have enabled me to behold thy divineattributes as manifest in the three worlds. (In consequence of thatkindness), O Govinda, I also behold thy eternal form. Thou standestshutting up the seven paths of the Wind possessed of immeasurable energy.The firmament is occupied by thy head, and the earth by thy feet. Thepoints of the compass are thy two arms, and the Sun is thy eye, and Sakraconstitutes thy prowess. O thou of unfading glory, thy Person, attired inyellow robes that resemble the hue of the Atasi flower, seem to us to belike a cloud charged with flashing of lightning. Think of that, O best ofgods, which would be good, O thou of lotus eyes, for my humble self, thatam devoted to thee, that seek thy protection, and that am desirous ofobtaining a blissful end.’

“Vasudeva said, ‘Since, O bull among men, thy devotion to me is verygreat, for this, O prince, I have displayed my celestial form to thee. Ido not, O foremost of kings, display myself unto one that is not devotedto me, or unto a devotee that is not sincere, or unto one, O Bharata,that is not of restrained soul. Thou art devoted to me and art alwaysobservant of righteousness. Of a pure heart, thou art alwaysself-restrained and ever observant of penances and gifts. Through thy ownpenances, O Bhishma, thou art competent to behold me. Those regions, Oking, are ready for thee whence there is no return.[156] Six and fiftydays, O foremost one of Kuru’s race, still remain for thee to live!Casting off thy body, thou shalt then, O Bhishma, obtain the blessedreward of thy acts. Behold, those deities and the Vasus, all endued withforms of fiery splendour, riding on their cars, are waiting for theeinvisibly till the moment of the sun’s entering on northerly course.Subject to universal time, when the divine Surya turns to his northerlycourse, thou, O foremost of men, shalt go to those regions whence no manof knowledge ever returns to this earth! When thou, O Bhishma, wilt leavethis world for that, all Knowledge, O hero, will expire with thee. It isfor this, that all these persons, assembled together, have approachedthee for listening to discourses on duty and morality. Do thou then speakwords of truth, fraught with morality and Yoga, unto Yudhishthira who asfirm in truth but whose learning has been clouded by grief on account ofthe slaughter of his kinsmen, and do thou, by this, quickly dispel thatgrief of his!’