Shloka 69

भीष्मस्य भीमसेन-निरोधः

Bhīṣma checks Bhīmasena; matched engagements intensify

Devanagari script

प्रभो! धर्मकी स्थापना, दैत्योंके वध और जगतकी रक्षाके लिये हमारी प्रार्थना अवश्य स्वीकार कीजिये ।।

Transliteration

prabho! dharmakī sthāpanā, daityānāṁ vadhaḥ ca jagataḥ rakṣāyai asmākaṁ prārthanāṁ avaśyaṁ svīkuru || yat tat paramakaṁ guhyaṁ tvatprasādād idaṁ vibho | vāsudeva tad etat te mayodgītaṁ yathātatham ||

Translation

Bhīṣma thưa rằng: “Muôn tâu Chúa Tể! Vì sự thiết lập Chánh pháp, vì việc diệt trừ bọn Daitya, và vì sự hộ trì thế gian, xin Ngài chuẩn nhận lời khẩn cầu của chúng con. Ôi Đấng trùm khắp, ôi Vāsudeva—nhờ ân sủng của Ngài, chân lý tối thượng và thẳm sâu nhất về chính Ngài đã được con cất lời ca tụng nơi đây, đúng như thực tướng.”

Word by Word

• {'prabho': 'O Lord, master', 'dharma': 'righteous order

• duty', 'sthāpanā': 'establishment

• setting firmly', 'daitya': 'Daitya

• a class of anti-god/demonic beings (sons of Diti)', 'vadha': 'slaying

• destruction (often in the sense of removing a threat)', 'jagat': 'the world

• living creation', 'rakṣā': 'protection

• safeguarding', 'prārthanā': 'prayer

• supplication', 'svīkuru / svīkṛ': 'accept

• receive favorably', 'yat tat': 'that which

• the very reality that', 'paramakam': 'supreme

• highest', 'guhyam': 'secret

• deeply hidden truth', 'tvat-prasādāt': 'by Your grace

• through Your favor', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

• all-pervading lord', 'vāsudeva': 'Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa as the supreme Lord)', 'tad etat': 'this very (teaching/truth)', 'mayā': 'by me', 'udgītam': 'sung

• uttered in praise', 'yathā-tatham': 'as it truly is

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)
• Daityas
• Dharma
• Jagat (the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames divine action as ethically purposive: dharma must be established, the forces that threaten it (symbolized by the Daityas) must be removed, and the world must be protected. It also emphasizes that the deepest truth about the Supreme (Vāsudeva) is knowable and speakable only through divine grace.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses Vāsudeva in a prayerful tone, asking the Lord to accept their supplication for cosmic welfare. He then states that he has proclaimed the Lord’s most secret, supreme reality—yet only because that revelation has been enabled by Vāsudeva’s own favor.