Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
यः सहस्रसमे सत्रे जज्ञे विश्वसृजामृषि: । हिरण्यपक्ष: शकुनिस्तस्मै हंसात्मने नम:
yaḥ sahasra-same satre jajñe viśva-sṛjām ṛṣiḥ | hiraṇya-pakṣaḥ śakunis tasmai haṃsātmane namaḥ ||
Bhishma dit : «Hommage au Seigneur suprême qui, lors de la session sacrificielle de mille ans des Prajāpati créateurs du monde, se manifesta comme l’oiseau-sage aux ailes d’or, prenant la forme du haṃsa (cygne sacré).»
भीष्म उवाच
The verse teaches dharmic reverence: acknowledging the divine as the inner reality behind cosmic creation and sacred ritual. By saluting the Lord in the haṃsa-form, it also points to purity and discriminative wisdom—qualities traditionally associated with the haṃsa.
Bhīṣma offers a hymn-like salutation, recalling a mythic manifestation during a thousand-year satra performed by the world-creating Prajāpatis. The Lord is praised as appearing as a golden-winged bird/swan, and Bhīṣma bows to that haṃsa-formed Supreme.