Shloka 60

Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga

Body-Relinquishment

Devanagari script

सहस्रशिरसे चैव पुरुषायामितात्मने । चतुःसमुद्रपर्याययोगनिद्रात्मने नम:,जिनके हजारों मस्तक हैं, जो अन्तर्यामीरूपसे सबके भीतर विराजमान हैं, जिनका स्वरूप किसी सीमामें आबद्ध नहीं है, जो चारों समुद्रोंक मिलनेसे एकार्णव हो जानेपर योगनिद्राका आश्रय लेकर शयन करते हैं, उन योगनिद्रारूप भगवान्‌को नमस्कार है

Transliteration

sahasraśirase caiva puruṣāyāmitātmane | catuḥsamudraparyāyayoganidrātmane namaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma adresse ses salutations au Purusha suprême : le Seigneur aux mille têtes, qui demeure comme souverain intérieur (antaryāmin) en tous les êtres, dont la nature est sans mesure et sans bornes. Quand les quatre océans se fondent en une seule étendue, Il repose dans la Yoga-nidrā. Ainsi Bhīṣma s’incline devant le Seigneur dont l’essence même est Yoga-nidrā, l’immobilité qui soutient création et dissolution.

Word by Word

• {'sahasra-śiras': 'thousand-headed

• epithet of the cosmic Lord (all-pervading, manifold)', 'puruṣa': 'the Supreme Person

• cosmic being', 'amita-ātman': 'of immeasurable nature

• limitless self', 'catuḥ-samudra': 'the four oceans', 'paryāya': 'confluence/turning into a single state

• merging into one expanse', 'yoga-nidrā': 'yogic sleep

• divine repose during cosmic dissolution, sustaining potentiality', 'ātman (in -ātmane)': 'whose essence is

• constituted of', 'namaḥ': 'salutation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Purusha (Supreme Lord)
• Yoga-nidra
• Four oceans (catuḥsamudra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches reverence for the Supreme as both immanent and transcendent: He dwells within all as the inner ruler, yet remains limitless. His Yoga-nidrā symbolizes sovereign control over creation and dissolution—ethical life (dharma) is grounded in recognizing this higher order and aligning oneself with it.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and the foundations of peace after the war. Here he pauses to offer a hymn-like salutation to the Supreme Person, invoking cosmic imagery (the oceans merging, the Lord’s yogic repose) to frame his teaching within a larger metaphysical and devotional context.