Shloka 40
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
शुक्ले देवान् पितृन् कृष्णे तर्पयत्यमृतेन यः । यश्न राजा द्विजातीनां तस्मै सोमात्मने नम:
śukle devān pitṝn kṛṣṇe tarpayaty amṛtena yaḥ | yasn rājā dvijātīnāṁ tasmai somātmane namaḥ ||
Bhīṣma says: Salutation to that Supreme Lord who is of the nature of Soma—who, in the bright fortnight, satisfies the gods, and in the dark fortnight, satisfies the ancestors with nectar; and who stands as the sovereign among all the twice-born.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is sustained by honoring both divine forces and ancestral lineages in their proper time; the waxing and waning moon symbolizes a disciplined rhythm of gratitude and obligation, culminating in reverence to the Supreme as Soma—the nourishing, life-sustaining principle.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in Śānti Parva, he offers a reverential verse praising the Soma-natured Supreme who, through the lunar cycle, is said to gratify gods in the bright fortnight and ancestors in the dark fortnight—linking ritual practice (tarpana) with cosmic governance.