Shloka 23

Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga

Body-Relinquishment

Devanagari script

हरिं सहस्रशिरसं सहस्नचरणेक्षणम्‌

Transliteration

hariṃ sahasraśirasaṃ sahasracaraṇekṣaṇam

Translation

毗湿摩说：“（我观想）遍在之主哈利——被描绘为具千首，且有无量之足与眼。”此乃诗性的说法，用以昭示神明无所不在，并以主宰之觉知洞察一切众生与一切行为。

Word by Word

• हरिम्: Hari (Vishnu)
• हरिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सहस्रशिरसम्: having a thousand heads
• सहस्रशिरसम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-शिरस्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सहस्रचरणेक्षणम्: having a thousand feet and eyes
• सहस्रचरणेक्षणम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-चरण-ईक्षण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Hari (Viṣṇu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches reverent contemplation of the Divine as omnipresent and all-seeing: describing Hari with innumerable heads, feet, and eyes underscores that no action is outside divine awareness, encouraging ethical self-restraint and dharmic conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right living; here he invokes Hari in exalted, cosmic imagery as part of a devotional or contemplative framing for moral instruction.