Shloka 45
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
दैवानि स व्यूहशतानि सप्त रक्तो हरिद्रोडथ तथैव शुक्ल: । संश्रित्य संधावति शुक्लमेत- मष्टावरानर्च्यतमान् स लोकान्,"क्रमशः रक्तवर्ण (अनुग्राहक देवता), हरिद्रावर्ण (देवता) तथा शुकक्लवर्ण (सनकादिकुमारों-जैसा सिद्ध शरीरधारी) होकर वह जीव बारी-बारीसे सात सौ दिव्य शरीरोंका आश्रय ले भू आदि सात उत्तमोत्तम लोकोंमें विचरण करके पूर्व पुण्यके प्रभावसे वेगपूर्वक विशुद्ध ब्रह्मलोकमें चला जाता है
daivāni sa vyūhaśatāni sapta rakto haridro ’tha tathaiva śuklaḥ | saṃśritya saṃdhāvati śuklam etad aṣṭāvarān arcayatamān sa lokān ||
Bhishma explains that the embodied being, propelled by the force of prior merit, successively assumes divine formations and bodies—first of a red hue, then turmeric-golden, and then pure white like the perfected, subtle-bodied sages. Taking refuge in these divine embodiments in due order, it ranges through the highest worlds beginning with Bhū and onward, honoring the presiding powers there; and then, moving swiftly, it reaches the utterly purified Brahma-world. The ethical point is that disciplined conduct and accumulated virtue shape one’s post-mortem trajectory, carrying the soul upward through graded realms toward the most refined state.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical conduct and accumulated merit (puṇya) determine the soul’s post-mortem ascent: the jīva takes progressively purer divine embodiments, honors the presiding powers of higher realms, and by the momentum of past virtue reaches the purified Brahma-world.
Bhishma describes a graded journey of the jīva through a sequence of divine forms (red, golden, white) and through the highest worlds beginning with Bhū and onward, culminating in swift entry into Brahmaloka due to the force of prior merit.