Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 174 Shloka 66 - Mahabharata | German | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 66

Devanagari script

जगाम भिन्त्वा मूर्धानं दिवमभ्युत्पपात ह । भीष्मजीने अपने देहके सभी द्वारोंको बंद करके प्राणोंको सब ओरसे रोक लिया था; इसलिये वह उनका मस्तक (ब्रह्मरन्ध्र) फोड़कर आकाशमें चला गया

Transliteration

jagāma bhittvā mūrdhānaṃ divam abhyutpapāta ha |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Nachdem er die Scheitelkrone seines Hauptes (das brahmarandhra) durchbrochen hatte, stieg er empor und ging in den Himmel ein.

Word by Word

जगामwent

भिन्त्वाhaving split/pierced

मूर्धानम्the head (crown of the head)

दिवम्to heaven, the sky

अभिtowards, unto

उत्पपातleapt up, sprang

हindeed (emphatic particle)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhīṣma

diva (heaven)

mūrdhan (crown of the head)

brahmarandhra (implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights yogic mastery at the time of death: through restraint of the senses and control of prāṇa, a disciplined person can direct the life-force to depart through the brahmarandhra. Ethically, it presents Bhīṣma’s end as conscious, self-governed, and aligned with dharma rather than driven by fear or confusion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates Bhīṣma’s final departure: he ‘splits’ the crown of the head and rises to heaven—an idiom for the prāṇa leaving through the cranial aperture after he has closed the bodily ‘doors’ and restrained the breaths by yogic concentration.