Shloka 55
Bhīṣma’s Yogic Departure, Royal Cremation, and Gaṅgā’s Lament (भीष्मस्य योगयुक्त्या देहत्यागः, पितृमेधः, गङ्गाविलापः)
दशवर्षसहसत्राणि बदर्यामेष शाश्वत: । तपश्चचार विपुलं सह गाण्डीवधन्चना,इन सनातन श्रीकृष्णने गाण्डीवधारी अर्जुनके साथ (नर-नारायणरूपमें रहकर) बदरिकाश्रममें दस हजार वर्षोतक बड़ी भारी तपस्या की थी
daśavarṣasahasrāṇi badaryām eṣa śāśvataḥ | tapaś cacāra vipulaṃ saha gāṇḍīvadhanvanā ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa walang hanggang ermitanyo ng Badarī, ang walang kupas na Panginoong ito ay nagsagawa ng napakalaking tapasya sa loob ng sampung libong taon, kasama ang may tangan ng busog na Gāṇḍīva.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True strength and rightful authority are grounded in tapas—disciplined self-restraint and sustained spiritual effort. Even divine figures are portrayed as honoring austerity, implying that ethical power is earned through inner mastery rather than mere force.
Bhishma recalls a tradition that the eternal Lord, in Badarī, practiced great austerities for ten thousand years together with the Gāṇḍīva-bearing Arjuna—evoking the Nara-Nārāyaṇa paradigm of divine-human partnership in ascetic striving.