Shloka 61
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
यस्य केशेषु जीमूता नद्यः सर्वाड्गसंधिषु । कुक्षौ समुद्राश्चत्वारस्तस्मै तोयात्मने नम:
yasya keśeṣu jīmūtā nadyaḥ sarvāṅga-sandhiṣu | kukṣau samudrāś catvāras tasmai toyātmane namaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Pagpupugay sa Kataas-taasang Nilalang na ang likas ay tubig: ang Kanyang buhok ay wari’y mga ulap, ang mga kasukasuan ng Kanyang katawan ay mga ilog, at sa Kanyang tiyan nananahan ang apat na dakilang dagat. Sa ganitong pangitain, itinuturo ng himno ang paggalang sa kaayusang kosmiko na pinananatili ng tubig—ang elementong nagbibigay-buhay na nagbubuklod sa daigdig—kaya nararapat itong sambahin at maging batayan ng pagpipigil sa asal ng tao.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents water as a cosmic principle worthy of worship: clouds, rivers, and oceans are envisioned as parts of the Divine body. Ethically, it implies gratitude, restraint, and dharmic care toward life-sustaining natural forces, especially water, which upholds the world’s order.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and related disciplines. Here he utters a reverential salutation in the form of a cosmological image, praising the water-essenced Supreme Being by mapping the hydrological world (clouds, rivers, oceans) onto the Divine body.