Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
दिशो भुजा रविश्वक्षुवीर्ये शुक्र: प्रतिष्ठित: सप्त मार्गा निरुद्धास्ते वायोरमिततेजस:
diśo bhujā raviśvakṣu-vīrye śukraḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ | sapta mārgā niruddhās te vāyor amita-tejasaḥ ||
In der mächtigen, allsehenden Kraft der Sonne sind die Himmelsrichtungen gleichsam in ihren Armen gehalten, und dort ist Śukra (Venus) gegründet. Die sieben Bahnen sind gezügelt—jene des Vāyu, dessen Glanz unermesslich ist—und weisen auf eine kosmische Ordnung, in der selbst gewaltige Kräfte innerhalb gesetzter Grenzen wirken.
भीष्म उवाच
The verse points to a moral-metaphysical principle: the universe functions through regulated order, where even immense forces are bounded by law. By implication, human power too should be governed by dharma and self-restraint rather than allowed to become unbounded.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right order. Here he uses cosmological imagery—Sun, Venus, and Wind with their ‘courses’—to illustrate how the world is sustained by structured regulation, supporting his broader counsel on disciplined rule and ethical conduct.