Shloka 39
त्रायस्व पुण्डरीकाक्ष पुरुषोत्तम नित्यश: । अनुजानीहि मां कृष्ण वैकुण्ठ पुरुषोत्तम,कमलनयन श्रीकृष्ण! पुरुषोत्तम! वैकुण्ठ! आप सदा मेरा उद्धार करें। अब मुझे जानेकी आज्ञा दें
trāyasva puṇḍarīkākṣa puruṣottama nityaśaḥ | anujānīhi māṃ kṛṣṇa vaikuṇṭha puruṣottama ||
Bhīṣma flehte: „O lotosäugiger Kṛṣṇa, Puruṣottama, Vaikuṇṭha! Beschütze und erlöse mich allezeit. Nun, o Kṛṣṇa, gewähre mir die Erlaubnis, zu scheiden.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches śaraṇāgati (taking refuge): at life’s end, one seeks protection and liberation not through personal power but through wholehearted surrender to the Supreme, trusting divine grace and asking to depart in a sanctioned, mindful way.
Bhīṣma, lying on his bed of arrows and nearing his chosen time of departure, addresses Kṛṣṇa with exalted divine epithets, praying for continual deliverance and requesting permission to leave the body—marking the solemn transition from instruction on dharma to the final act of devotion.