Shloka 85
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
विश्वकर्मन् नमस्ते<स्तु विश्वात्मन् विश्वसम्भव । अपवर्गोडसि भूतानां पञ्चानां परत: स्थित:
Viśvakarman namas te 'stu viśvātman viśvasambhava | apavargo 'si bhūtānāṁ pañcānāṁ parataḥ sthitaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Salutations to you, O Viśvakarman—O Universal Self, source of the universe. You are the liberating goal for embodied beings; transcending the five elements, you stand beyond them.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the supreme principle as both the cosmic source (viśvasambhava) and the goal of liberation (apavarga). True freedom lies beyond identification with the five elements and the material constitution of embodied life.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction by offering a reverential address to the supreme creative principle (Viśvakarman), framing his teaching within a devotional and metaphysical vision of the ultimate reality that transcends the elemental world.