Bhīṣma’s Yogic Departure, Royal Cremation, and Gaṅgā’s Lament (भीष्मस्य योगयुक्त्या देहत्यागः, पितृमेधः, गङ्गाविलापः)
अनादिनिधनोडव्यक्तो महात्मा मधुसूदन: । अयं जातो महातेजा: सुराणामर्थसिद्धये,इनका न आदि है न अन्त। ये अव्यक्तस्वरूप, महातेजस्वी महात्मा मधुसूदन देवताओंका कार्य सिद्ध करनेके लिये यदुकुलमें उत्पन्न हुए हैं
anādinidhano ’vyakto mahātmā madhusūdanaḥ | ayaṃ jāto mahātejāḥ surāṇām arthasiddhaye |
Bhīṣma nói: “Madhusūdana—bậc đại hồn—không có khởi đầu, không có chung cuộc, mang bản tính vô hiển. Thế nhưng, đấng rực sáng vô song ấy đã thị hiện giáng sinh để hoàn thành sứ mệnh của chư thiên, khôi phục trật tự vũ trụ nâng đỡ dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
The verse affirms the paradox of the divine: the Lord is beginningless, endless, and unmanifest in essence, yet voluntarily appears in a manifest birth to fulfill a cosmic purpose—supporting the gods and re-establishing dharma.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises and explains the nature of Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa): though transcendent and beyond ordinary perception, he manifests in the world to accomplish the aims of the devas—i.e., to aid the restoration of righteous order.