Shloka 36
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
यं सुरासुरगन्धर्वा: सिद्धा ऋषिमहोरगा: । प्रयता नित्यमर्चन्ति परमं दुः:खभेषजम्
yaṁ surāsura-gandharvāḥ siddhā ṛṣi-mahoragāḥ | prayatā nityam arcanti paramaṁ duḥkha-bheṣajam ||
Bhīṣma said: “I take refuge in the supreme Lord—Hari Nārāyaṇa—whom gods and asuras, gandharvas, siddhas, seers, and the great serpents, disciplined in mind and conduct, continually worship; who is the highest remedy for the disease of sorrow. Though one, He appears in many forms; transcending the senses and their objects, He is called Adhokṣaja. He fulfills the devotees’ aims, is the treasure-house of the world in whom all beings abide, the ultimate truth beyond both being and non-being, beginningless, middleless, and endless—known neither fully to gods nor to sages, and not graspable by mere physical sight or by the intellect in its entirety.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches śaraṇāgati—taking refuge in the Supreme (Hari Nārāyaṇa) as the ultimate cure for duḥkha. It emphasizes God’s transcendence beyond sensory grasp (Adhokṣaja), His being one yet manifesting in many forms, and His incomprehensibility to even gods and sages—thereby directing the listener toward devotion and inner discipline rather than mere intellectual or sensory certainty.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the path to peace after the war. Here he offers a devotional praise and personal surrender to Hari Nārāyaṇa, describing how all classes of exalted beings worship Him and portraying the Lord as the supreme medicine for existential sorrow.