Shloka 69
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
ब्राह्मण जिनके मुख हैं, सम्पूर्ण क्षत्रिय-जाति भुजा है, वैश्य जंघा एवं उदर हैं और शाद्र जिनके चरणोंके आश्रित हैं, उन चातुर्वर्ण्यरूप परमेश्वरको नमस्कार है ।।
yasya brāhmaṇā mukham, samastā kṣatriya-jātiḥ bhujā, vaiśyā jaṅghā udaram ca, śūdrāś ca yasya caraṇāśritāḥ; taṃ cāturvarṇya-rūpaṃ parameśvaraṃ namaskurmi. yasyāgnir āsyaṃ dyauḥ mūrdhā khaṃ nābhiś caraṇau kṣitiḥ; sūryaś cakṣuḥ diśaḥ śrotre; tasmai lokātmane namaḥ.
Bhīṣma bows to the Supreme Lord envisioned as the very body of society and the cosmos: the Brāhmaṇas are His mouth, the Kṣatriyas His arms, the Vaiśyas His thighs and belly, and the Śūdras those who take refuge at His feet. He further salutes that World-Self whose mouth is fire, whose head is heaven, whose navel is space, whose feet are the earth, whose eyes are the sun, and whose ears are the directions.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a unitive vision: the Supreme Self pervades both society and the cosmos. By portraying the four varṇas and the elements as limbs of one Lord, it frames dharma as coordinated duty within an interconnected whole, grounded in reverence rather than rivalry.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma while lying on the bed of arrows. Here he offers a devotional salutation, describing the Lord as the embodiment of the social order (cāturvarṇya) and as the cosmic person whose body is fire, heaven, space, earth, sun, and the directions.