Shloka 61
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
यस्य केशेषु जीमूता नद्यः सर्वाड्गसंधिषु । कुक्षौ समुद्राश्चत्वारस्तस्मै तोयात्मने नम:
yasya keśeṣu jīmūtā nadyaḥ sarvāṅga-sandhiṣu | kukṣau samudrāś catvāras tasmai toyātmane namaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Hommage à l’Être suprême dont la nature est l’eau : sa chevelure est imaginée comme des nuées, ses articulations comme des fleuves, et dans son ventre demeurent les quatre grands océans. Par cette vision, l’hymne enseigne le respect de l’ordre cosmique soutenu par l’eau, élément vivifiant qui relie le monde ; il mérite donc le culte et appelle la retenue dans la conduite humaine.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents water as a cosmic principle worthy of worship: clouds, rivers, and oceans are envisioned as parts of the Divine body. Ethically, it implies gratitude, restraint, and dharmic care toward life-sustaining natural forces, especially water, which upholds the world’s order.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and related disciplines. Here he utters a reverential salutation in the form of a cosmological image, praising the water-essenced Supreme Being by mapping the hydrological world (clouds, rivers, oceans) onto the Divine body.