Shloka 69

भीष्मस्य भीमसेन-निरोधः

Bhīṣma checks Bhīmasena; matched engagements intensify

Devanagari script

प्रभो! धर्मकी स्थापना, दैत्योंके वध और जगतकी रक्षाके लिये हमारी प्रार्थना अवश्य स्वीकार कीजिये ।। यत्‌ तत्‌ परमकं गुहां त्वत्प्रसादादिदं विभो । वासुदेव तदेतत्‌ ते मयोद्गीत॑ यथातथम्‌,वासुदेव! आप ही पूर्णतम परमेश्वर हैं। आपका जो परम गुहाय यथार्थस्वरूप है, उसीका यहाँ इस रूपमें आपकी कृपासे ही गान किया गया है

Transliteration

prabho! dharmakī sthāpanā, daityānāṁ vadhaḥ ca jagataḥ rakṣāyai asmākaṁ prārthanāṁ avaśyaṁ svīkuru || yat tat paramakaṁ guhyaṁ tvatprasādād idaṁ vibho | vāsudeva tad etat te mayodgītaṁ yathātatham ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O Lord, for the establishment of dharma, for the destruction of the Daityas, and for the protection of the world, please accept our prayer. O all-pervading One, O Vāsudeva—by Your grace that supreme and most secret truth about You has been sung here by me, just as it truly is.”

Word by Word

• {'prabho': 'O Lord, master', 'dharma': 'righteous order

• duty', 'sthāpanā': 'establishment

• setting firmly', 'daitya': 'Daitya

• a class of anti-god/demonic beings (sons of Diti)', 'vadha': 'slaying

• destruction (often in the sense of removing a threat)', 'jagat': 'the world

• living creation', 'rakṣā': 'protection

• safeguarding', 'prārthanā': 'prayer

• supplication', 'svīkuru / svīkṛ': 'accept

• receive favorably', 'yat tat': 'that which

• the very reality that', 'paramakam': 'supreme

• highest', 'guhyam': 'secret

• deeply hidden truth', 'tvat-prasādāt': 'by Your grace

• through Your favor', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

• all-pervading lord', 'vāsudeva': 'Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa as the supreme Lord)', 'tad etat': 'this very (teaching/truth)', 'mayā': 'by me', 'udgītam': 'sung

• uttered in praise', 'yathā-tatham': 'as it truly is

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)
• Daityas
• Dharma
• Jagat (the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames divine action as ethically purposive: dharma must be established, the forces that threaten it (symbolized by the Daityas) must be removed, and the world must be protected. It also emphasizes that the deepest truth about the Supreme (Vāsudeva) is knowable and speakable only through divine grace.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses Vāsudeva in a prayerful tone, asking the Lord to accept their supplication for cosmic welfare. He then states that he has proclaimed the Lord’s most secret, supreme reality—yet only because that revelation has been enabled by Vāsudeva’s own favor.