Shloka 153
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
भीष्म: परमधर्मात्मा वासुदेवम थास्तुवत् । ध्यान करते-करते वे हृष्ट-पुष्ट स्वरसे भगवान् मधुसूदनकी स्तुति करने लगे। वाग्वेत्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | bhīṣmaḥ paramadharmātmā vāsudevam athāstuvat | dhyānaṃ kurvan kramāt hṛṣṭa-puṣṭa-svarasaḥ sa bhagavantaṃ madhusūdanaṃ stotuṃ pravavṛte | vāg-vettṝṇāṃ śreṣṭhaḥ śaktimān paramadharmātmā bhīṣmaḥ karābhyāṃ añjaliṃ kṛtvā yogeśvaraṃ padmanābhaṃ sarvavyāpinaṃ vijayaśīlaṃ jagadīśvaraṃ vāsudevaṃ evaṃ stutiṃ ārabhata |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Bhīṣma, steadfast in the highest dharma, began to praise Vāsudeva. As he continued in meditation, his voice grew clear and full with joy, and he set himself to extol the Blessed Madhusūdana. The foremost among masters of speech—powerful and supremely righteous—Bhīṣma, with hands joined in reverence, commenced his hymn to Vāsudeva: the Lord of Yoga, the Lotus-naveled, the all-pervading, ever-victorious Sovereign of the world.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames devotion as an ethical culmination: Bhīṣma, renowned for dharma and disciplined speech, turns to meditative praise of Vāsudeva, presenting reverent remembrance of the divine as a fitting, dharma-aligned act—especially at life’s threshold.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that Bhīṣma, absorbed in meditation, becomes inwardly uplifted and begins a formal hymn to Kṛṣṇa/Vāsudeva, addressing him with exalted epithets (Yogeśvara, Padmanābha, Sarvavyāpin, Jagadīśvara) and initiating a sustained stuti.