Shloka 1
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत राजधमनुशासनपर्वमें महापुरुषस्तुतिविषयक छियालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ४६ ॥। ऑपनआक्रात बा अर 2 सप्तचत्वारिशो<ध्याय: भीष्मद्वारा भगवान् श्रीकृष्णकी स्तुति--भीष्मस्तवराज जनमेजय उवाच शरतल्पे शयानस्तु भरतानां पितामह: । कथमुत्सृष्टवान् देहं कं च योगमधारयत्
Janamejaya uvāca
śara-talpe śayānas tu bharatānāṁ pitāmahaḥ |
katham utsṛṣṭavān dehaṁ kaṁ ca yogam adhārayat ||
Janamejaya asked: “While lying upon the bed of arrows, how did Bhīṣma—the grandsire of the Bharatas—finally relinquish his body, and what discipline of yoga did he adopt at that moment?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical-spiritual inquiry: even amid the aftermath of war, the manner of dying—especially for a dharma-knowing elder like Bhīṣma—matters, and is linked to yogic steadiness and conscious relinquishment rather than mere physical collapse.
Janamejaya asks about Bhīṣma’s final moments on the arrow-bed: how he gave up his body and what yogic discipline he maintained then, setting up the ensuing account of Bhīṣma’s departure and spiritual focus.