Shloka 33
Bhīṣmadeva’s Passing Away in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa
त्रिभुवनकमनं तमालवर्णं रविकरगौरवराम्बरं दधाने । वपुरलककुलावृताननाब्जं विजयसखे रतिरस्तु मेऽनवद्या ॥ ३३ ॥
tri-bhuvana-kamanaṁ tamāla-varṇaṁ ravi-kara-gaura-vara-ambaraṁ dadhāne vapur alaka-kulāvṛtānanābjaṁ vijaya-sakhe ratir astu me ’navadyā
Semoga kasihku yang suci tertumpu pada Śrī Kṛṣṇa, sahabat kemenangan Arjuna: tubuh-Nya berwarna biru tamāla yang memikat tiga alam, mengenakan pakaian kuning berkilau seperti sinar matahari, dan wajah teratai-Nya dilingkari ikal rambut. Semoga aku tidak menginginkan hasil karma yang bersifat duniawi.
When Śrī Kṛṣṇa by His own internal pleasure appears on earth, He does so by the agency of His internal potency. The attractive features of His transcendental body are desired in all the three worlds, namely the upper, middle and lower planetary systems. Nowhere in the universe are there such beautiful bodily features as those of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore His transcendental body has nothing to do with anything materially created. Arjuna is described here as the conqueror, and Kṛṣṇa is described as his intimate friend. Bhīṣmadeva, on his bed of arrows after the Battle of Kurukṣetra, is remembering the particular dress of Lord Kṛṣṇa which He put on as the driver of Arjuna’s chariot. While fighting was going on between Arjuna and Bhīṣma, Bhīṣma’s attraction was drawn by the glittering dress of Kṛṣṇa, and indirectly he admired his so-called enemy Arjuna for possessing the Lord as his friend. Arjuna was always a conqueror because the Lord was his friend. Bhīṣmadeva takes this opportunity to address the Lord as vijaya-sakhe (friend of Arjuna) because the Lord is pleased when He is addressed conjointly with His devotees, who are related with Him in different transcendental humors. While Kṛṣṇa was the charioteer of Arjuna, sun rays glittered on the dress of the Lord, and the beautiful hue created by the reflection of such rays was never forgotten by Bhīṣmadeva. As a great fighter he was relishing the relation of Kṛṣṇa in the chivalrous humor. Transcendental relation with the Lord in any one of the different rasas (humors) is relishable by the respective devotees in the highest ecstasy. Less intelligent mundaners who want to make a show of being transcendentally related with the Lord artificially jump at once to the relation of conjugal love, imitating the damsels of Vrajadhāma. Such a cheap relation with the Lord exhibits only the base mentality of the mundaner because one who has relished conjugal humor with the Lord cannot be attached to worldly conjugal rasa, which is condemned even by mundane ethics. The eternal relation of a particular soul with the Lord is evolved. A genuine relation of the living being with the Supreme Lord can take any form out of the five principal rasas, and it does not make any difference in transcendental degree to the genuine devotee. Bhīṣmadeva is a concrete example of this, and it should be carefully observed how the great general is transcendentally related with the Lord.
FAQs
In Bhīṣma’s prayers, he fixes his mind on Kṛṣṇa’s enchanting form and asks for flawless devotion—showing that remembrance and loving absorption in the Lord is the ideal consciousness at life’s end.
Bhīṣma addresses Kṛṣṇa as Arjuna’s intimate companion who guided him during the Kurukṣetra war, highlighting Kṛṣṇa’s personal relationship with His devotee and His role in securing righteous victory.
Regularly contemplate Kṛṣṇa’s qualities and form through sincere prayer, scripture study, and devotional practices, aiming for love that is free from selfish motives and centered on pleasing the Lord.