Shloka 86

Devanagari script

नि:सृत्याकाशमाविश्य क्षणेनान्तरधीयत । जनेश्वर! भीष्मजीका प्राण उनके ब्रह्मरन्ध्रसे निकलकर बड़ी भारी उल्काकी भाँति आकाशगमें उड़ा और क्षणभरमें अन्तर्धान हो गया

Transliteration

niḥsṛtyākāśam āviśya kṣaṇenāntaradhīyata | janeśvara! bhīṣmajīkā prāṇaḥ tasya brahmarandhrāt niṣkramya mahā-ulkāyā iva ākāśa-gataḥ uḍḍīya kṣaṇamātreṇa antarhitaḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Herr der Menschen! Bhīṣmas Lebenshauch, der durch das brahma-randhra austrat, drang in den Himmel ein und schoss wie ein gewaltiger Meteor empor; in einem Augenblick entschwand er dem Blick.“

Word by Word

नि:सृत्यhaving gone out / having emerged

आकाशम्the sky

आविश्यhaving entered

क्षणेनin a moment / quickly

अन्तर्धीयतdisappeared / vanished

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhīṣma

janeśvara (addressed ruler/king)

ākāśa (sky)

brahmarandhra

ulkā (meteor)

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 the ideal of a disciplined, dharmic end: Bhīṣma’s prāṇa departs through the brahma-randhra, a yogic motif suggesting mastery over the moment and manner of death, and pointing to spiritual attainment rather than ordinary mortality.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Bhīṣma’s final departure: his life-breath leaves through the crown aperture, rises into the sky like a great meteor, and disappears—marking the completion of his life and the solemn, extraordinary nature of his passing.