Shloka 243
आस्ते महर्षिभि: सार्ध ब्रह्मा देवगणैर्यथा । तदनन्तर वे सब लोग उस स्थानपर गये जहाँपर प्रभावशाली भीष्मजी बाणशय्यापर सो रहे थे। जैसे देवताओंसे घिरे हुए ब्रह्माजी शोभा पाते हैं, उसी प्रकार महर्षियोंके साथ भीष्मजी सुशोभित हो रहे थे
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: āste maharṣibhiḥ sārdhaṁ brahmā devagaṇair yathā | tadanantaraṁ te sarve lokāḥ tasmin sthāne gatāḥ yatra prabhāvaśālī bhīṣmaḥ bāṇaśayyāyāṁ suptaḥ | yathā devatābhiḥ parivṛto brahmā śobhate tathā maharṣibhiḥ sārdhaṁ bhīṣmaḥ suśobhate |
Vaiśampāyana said: Bhīṣma lay there in the company of great seers, radiant like Brahmā surrounded by the hosts of gods. After this, all those people went to the place where the mighty Bhīṣma was resting upon his bed of arrows. Just as Brahmā appears resplendent when encircled by the deities, so too did Bhīṣma shine, attended by the maharṣis—honoured not for victory in war, but for steadfastness to duty and the moral gravity of his final instruction.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Bhīṣma’s authority as moral and spiritual: even while wounded and near death, he is honoured like a cosmic teacher, surrounded by sages. The ethical point is that dharma and wisdom command reverence beyond battlefield outcomes.
After preceding events, the assembled people go to the spot where Bhīṣma lies on his bed of arrows. He is depicted as resplendent in the company of maharṣis, compared to Brahmā encircled by the gods—setting the scene for Bhīṣma’s instruction in Śānti Parva.