Shloka 8
Bhīṣmadeva’s Passing Away in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa
अन्ये च मुनयो ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मरातादयोऽमला: । शिष्यैरुपेता आजग्मु: कश्यपाङ्गिरसादय: ॥ ८ ॥
anye ca munayo brahman brahmarātādayo ’malāḥ śiṣyair upetā ājagmuḥ kaśyapāṅgirasādayaḥ
โอ้พราหมณ์! ฤๅษีผู้บริสุทธิ์อื่นๆ เช่น พรหมราตะ (ศุกเทวะ) ก็มาเช่นกัน ทั้งกัศยปะ อางคิรสะ และท่านอื่นๆ ต่างมาพร้อมศิษย์ของตน
Śukadeva Gosvāmī ( Brahmarāta ): The famous son and disciple of Śrī Vyāsadeva, who taught him first the Mahābhārata and then Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śukadeva Gosvāmī recited 1,400,000 verses of the Mahābhārata in the councils of the Gandharvas, Yakṣas and Rākṣasas, and he recited Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the first time in the presence of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. He thoroughly studied all the Vedic literatures from his great father. Thus he was a completely purified soul by dint of his extensive knowledge in the principles of religion. From Mahābhārata, Sabhā-parva (4.11), it is understood that he was also present in the royal assembly of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and at the fasting of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. As a bona fide disciple of Śrī Vyāsadeva, he inquired from his father very extensively about religious principles and spiritual values, and his great father also satisfied him by teaching him the yoga system by which one can attain the spiritual kingdom, the difference between fruitive work and empiric knowledge, the ways and means of attaining spiritual realization, the four āśramas (namely the student life, the householder’s life, the retired life and the renounced life), the sublime position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the process of seeing Him face to face, the bona fide candidate for receiving knowledge, the consideration of the five elements, the unique position of intelligence, the consciousness of the material nature and the living entity, the symptoms of the self-realized soul, the working principles of the material body, the symptoms of the influential modes of nature, the tree of perpetual desire, and psychic activities. Sometimes he went to the sun planet with the permission of his father and Nāradajī. Descriptions of his travel in space are given in the Śānti-parva of the Mahābhārata (332). At last he attained the transcendental realm. He is known by different names like Araṇeya, Aruṇisuta, Vaiyāsaki and Vyāsātmaja.
FAQs
Brahmarāta is a name for Śukadeva Gosvāmī, famed as a completely pure sage devoted to Brahman and the Supreme Lord.
Bhīṣma’s passing was a sacred moment in the Lord’s presence; great sages came to witness it and to hear his final, dharma-filled instructions.
Seek the company of pure teachers and serious students (satsaṅga), and prioritize hearing and learning sacred wisdom at life’s crucial moments.