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As Srikrishna’s chariot entered the royal path, all the ladies of the royal households went up to the terraces to catch a glimpse of Him.

The citizens of Dwaraka, who were used to having the daily darshan of this Lord who retains Goddess Lakshmi in his heart, were not satisfied even after being in His presence for a very long time that day.

Lord Venkateshwara retains Devi in His heart and hence is Śri-nivasa. Likewise, His chest is the residence for Goddess Lakshmi. His arms are the residence to the guardian-deities of the world and His lotus feet are the shelter to those devotees who glorify Him. His face is nectarous to our eyes.

As the chariot of Lord Krishna, who was decked in golden yellow Pitambara clothes and who was wearing the Vanamala garland, entered the royal paths a white umbrella was held over His head. He was fanned with Vinjāmara fans. Flowers were showered upon Him in plenty. At that time the Lord was glowing magnificently like a cloud that is encircled by the Sun, Stars, Moon, rainbows and lightning.

Srikrishna went to the residence of His parents and bowing His head in deep reverence, He offered obeisance to Devaki and other seven mothers. All of them embraced Him. With overflowing love, the mothers seated Him on their laps. The joyful tears from their eyes wet Him completely.

From there, He proceeded to His luxurious palace, which had in it every form of luxury. In it resided His 8 queens and 16000 women.

The wives, who from a distance observed the arrival of their husband, who had been away for a very long period of time, with great excitement coupled with shyness, stopped their meditations and also the disciplines that they had been practicing in his absence. They immediately got up from their seats and stood up.

These wives, who were of an in-depth character, at first embraced the Lord mentally in their heart. Thereafter they embraced Him by meeting His gaze. From the place where they were standing, they either bent their head in shyness or met His gaze and embraced Him through that gaze. Then they physically embraced Him. How fortunate they were!

Overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing their Lord, they could not control their tears. Lord Krishna was always beside them; He was exclusively (ekanta) with each of them, yet at every second, His feet appeared newer to them.

Who can ever get tired of observing the lotus feet of that Lord, which Goddess Lakshmi, who inherently is of a restless nature, will never leave (never gets tired)?

Lord Krishna had caused disputes amongst those kings, who empowered with mighty armies, had spread their tentacles in all directions and had become burdensome to Mother Earth. Just like the wind which causes friction and creates a forest fire that ultimately burns down the entire forest, Lord Krishna, without himself taking up any weapon, had caused friction amongst these kings which ultimately led to their mutual destruction. In this manner, He reduced the load of Mother Earth and was peaceful.

Neither did the Lord take up any weapon to kill anyone nor did He instigate any of them to kill. He just caused a friction between them. All of them were cheats and traitors. He just caused one traitor to fight another. He reduced the load of Mother Earth.

The Supreme Lord, who, using His power of illusion had incarnated amongst humans as Krishna, enjoyed amongst competent women, as if He was an ordinary human being. Even then, these wives, even with their unsurpassed beauty and deceitful sports could not create even the slightest wavering in His mind. With their sensuous smiles and sportive gazes, perhaps they could captivate Manmatha, the God of love, but they could not cause even the slightest stir in the mind of their beloved husband Krishna.

Tam ayaṁ manyate loko hy asaṅgam api saṅginam – The Lord has no association with any object, although He is everything.

Ātmaupamyena manujaṁ vyāpṛṇvānaṁ yato ‘budhaḥ

Irrespective of the tasks undertaken, Srikrishna remains unattached to them all!

The ignorant human being, who is unable to grasp this secretive knowledge, considers the Lord to be an ordinary human who is tied to karmic bondages of this universe, like everyone else. Thus the ignorant person gets further trapped in illusion.

Spiritual ignorance is the root for all this! Such persons believe, ‘O He too has attachments just as we do. He is also tied down with bondages. He too is enveloped by all forms of lust, desires and anger’. They do not realize that He is everything. Trapped in this illusion, they behave in this manner.

Every living being had this illusion towards Srihari. In reality, the Supreme Lord has no connection with joys-sorrows which arise out of the traits of nature (Prakriti guṇas). Only he who realizes this fact merges into Him!

Even then, this Lord appeared as if He too had a body which was controlled by Nature and its three attributes (Prakṛti-guṇās). This is the īśwaratwam of that Supreme Almighty! Even though He does not exist, He appears to exist. Even though He exists, He appears as if He does not exist.

This is very difficult to understand, isn’t it? Although He is attached, He appears to be unattached. Let us consider the example of an object called stone. How does a stone appear? It appears like a stone, that’s it. It has no movement. How was it created? Perhaps from some metal, from earth or from some chemicals. Understand that this form itself is Paramātma! He is illumining or making Himself visible through this form of stone! He appears like a stone. He appears like water. He becomes like fire. If you think deeply, you will grasp this subject.

The intellect (buddhi) that is totally fixed upon Paramātma, will not succumb to the trap of likes-dislikes, isn’t it?

Sriman Narayana!

Yudhisthira had limitless affection towards Srikrishna. Afraid that enemies could attack Krishna during His journey, he sent all four divisions of his army consisting of elephants, cavalry, chariots and infantry, to Dwaraka for His protection.

The Pandavas, out of their deep love and affection towards the Lord, and worried about separation from Him, accompanied Him for a great distance. Then, Krishna gently bade them farewell and sent them back home. Together with His friends, Srikrishna then proceeded towards Dwaraka.

Crossing the Kurujāngala, Pāṇchala, Surasena, Brahmavarta, Kurukshetra, Matsya, Sāraswata, Maratdhanva provinces, He reached Ānarta kingdom (Dwaraka), which was to the west of Sauvīra and Ābhīra Kingdoms, by Sunset. All through the journey, at various places, people were accosting the Lord, worshipping Him and offering Him presentations. In this manner, by Sunset, He reached the western end. By then His horses were a little tired.

With this the 10^th chapter of the first Canto comes to an end.

First Canto Eleventh Chapter

In this chapter, the welcoming and praising of Srikrishna by the citizens of Dwaraka, and the Lord entering His city are covered.

Srikrishna reached his prosperous city of Ānarta (Dwaraka). As if to indicate that He was dispelling the distress of the citizens who were dejected due to long separation from Him, Krishna blew His conch Pāncajanya, heralding His arrival!

As He held the strikingly white conch in His lotus hands and brought it near His lips, the red colour from His lower lip reflected upon the conch. With this it appeared as if the white conch had turned red in colour. The conch held in his hands appeared like a royal swan that was screeching while playing amidst lotuses!

Hearing from close quarters the loud sound from the Pāncajanya conch, the sound that had the ability to instill fear to fear itself, the citizens of Dwaraka were overjoyed. Becoming extremely anxious to see their Lord, they rushed towards Him. Just like a lamp that is offered to the Sun, the citizens offered gifts with utmost love to Srikrishna, who, being the form of the Self is eternally blissful and totally contented.

Just like children who welcome their father joyfully, the citizens of Dwaraka, with limitless elation and hoarse voices, joyfully said to him:

Natāḥ sma te nātha sadāṅghri-paṅkajaṁ

Viriñca-vairiñcya-surendra-vanditam

Parāyaṇaṁ kṣema mihecchatāṁ paraṁ

Na yatra kālaḥ prabhavet paraḥ prabhuḥ

Oh Lord! Even the shadow of that eternal time (kāla), which swallows Brahma and all other Gods, does not fall upon You! The great Lord Brahma, the eminent sages Sanaka, Sananda and others, and all the celestials beginning from Indra, offer obeisance to Your lotus feet! In this world, to all those who seek welfare Your feet are the sole shelter. I offer obeisance to those holy feet!

Bhavāya nas tvaṁ bhava viśva-bhāvana  tvam eva mātātha suhṛt-patiḥ pitā

Tvaṁ sad-gurur naḥ paramaṁ ca daivataṁ  yasyānuvṛttyā kṛtino babhūvima

O Lord who creates this universe! Please cause auspiciousness to me. To us You are the mother, father, friend, relative, King, Sadguru and even the Supreme Lord. You are everything. By serving You we have attained everything.

Aha! By serving You, we have obtained a protector (sa-nātha). We are seeing that beautiful auspicious face of Yours which is blossoming with Your loving tender smile and which causes us great joy’.

In Hastinapura, the people, who were drowned in grief of separation, praised Him profusely. Now here in Dwaraka, the citizens, in happiness upon His arrival, are praising Him. To this Lord both are equal. In Hastinapura, with grief they bid him farewell. Here with great excitement the people welcome Him. But to the Lord both are one and the same.

‘Even those who are in Heaven do not have the luck of seeing Your form so easily! O Lotus-eyed Lord! O Srikrishna! Whenever you leave us to see your friends in Hastinapura or in Mathura, our condition is like that of the eyes which are deprived of the Sun! Even a second appears like a crore years in your absence’.

Lord Srikrishna, who considers his devotees to be his children, heard these words spoken by the citizens and gazed at them tenderly with loving grace (anugraha).

Just as the city Bhogavati is guarded by the Nāgas, the city of Dwaraka was guarded by the members of  Madhu, Bhoja, Daśārha, Arha, Kukura, Andhaka and Vṛśti clans, who were equal in might to Krishna.

In that city of Dwaraka, were many gardens that were all through the year replete with trees laden with flowers and fruits. The surrounding gardens, play grounds, ponds and lakes added beauty to the city. The citizens decorated the city with colourful archways. Colourful flags were flying high everywhere. All these not only added to the beauty of the city, but they also reduced the intensity of the heat. The streets were cool and simultaneously colourful.

In front of the houses many auspicious items, poorna kumbhas, presentations, incense sticks and lamps were all arranged for the Lord. This was the city into which Lord Krishna entered!

Mahatma Vasudeva (father), Akrura, grandfather Ugrasena, the courageous Balarama, Pradyumna, Charudeṣṭa, Sāmba heard the arrival of Krishna and were greatly ecstatic. Such was their excitement that they left their beds, seats, food etc. as is, and mounting chariots, they rushed forward to welcome Him. Before them were elephants. Vedic scholars holding the necessary auspicious articles walked behind them. Beautiful dancers, eager to have the darshan of Lord Krishna, mounted their vehicles and proceeded towards Him. Various dancers, story tellers, dramatists, expert speakers all accosted the Lord. Professional singers rendered His glories.

Krishna lovingly approached every citizen and every relative who had come there to welcome Him and greeted them personally. The Lord who protects one and all however bowed and offered obeisance only to some. Through respectful words, He offered his obeisance to some others. He embraced some of them. He shook hands with a few others. Some He greeted with His smile. He gazed into the eyes of some. To some others, He offered boons. In this way, Krishna greeted each and every person who had come to receive Him, right from the greatest to the smallest.

In addition He sought the blessings of His gurus who had come with their wives. He also obtained the blessings of the aged persons. In this way, while professional singers were rendering His glories, Lord Krishna entered the city of Dwaraka, accompanied by them all!

Jai Sri Krishna.

On the day Srikrishna was to leave, everyone forcibly controlled their tears. Crying at the time of departure is considered inauspicious for the person who is leaving. Hence those who could not control their tears cried perhaps on the earlier day. That morning everyone ensured that their eyes were not wet. Those whose eyes were getting wet were leaving the place and going to another room so that their teary eyes would not be seen by others. It is wrong to cry when Paramatma is leaving!

At the time of Krishna’s departure, various auspicious musical instruments were played. The ladies of Kuru dynasty went up to the terrace of the palace so that they could watch His chariot for as long as it was in sight.

All the citizens also went up to the terraces to watch the Lord. The ladies, with feelings of love coupled with shyness, smilingly showered flowers upon Him.

Krishna’s dearest friend Arjuna held over His head a white umbrella, that was decorated with strings of pearls and which was held together with precious jewels.

Uddhava and Sātyaki fanned Him with the Vinjāmara fan. As the chariot proceeded through the streets the citizens showered flowers upon Him. With this flower shower upon Him, Krishna glowed radiantly!

In various places, Krishna, who is none other than the Absolute God who is beyond traits (Nirguna Parabrahma) and beyond illusion (maya), heard Vedic scholars offering Him benedictions through Vedic chants. Those Vedic blessings, which represented the ultimate truth, were truly befitting His form.

The women of Hastinapura had their minds totally fixed upon Srikrishna, who was of the highest reputation. Mentally absorbed in His thoughts, the words that they uttered about Him, were soothing to the ears of one and all.

‘Parabrahma, who is without beginning and without end, who is the form of illumination and knowledge, who is non-dual, who is over and above the 3 qualities of Nature (trigunas), manifests as this universe!

At the time of annihilation (pralaya), when the sportive plays of illusory power are totally subdued, all beings merge into Him alone. At such time, Parabrahma remains in His original form which is beyond description! Our Srikrishna is none other than this Absolute Parabrahma!

In this original state He has no name and no form. At that point, He decides to make visible name and form and introduces Vedas into the universe. He then establishes himself as the presiding force for Prakriti (nature) that is replete with the trigunas. This Prakriti, influenced by His transcendental energy, causes illusion amongst the beings and contains in it the desire to create.

In this universe, eminent learned scholars conquer their senses through the medium of Pranayama, and then with feelings of utmost devotion accompanied by purity of mind, realize the original form of that Supreme Lord. Such Supreme Parabrahma is now in front of our eyes!’

This is the way each of them thought about Srikrishna.

‘That Supreme Lord, Srikrishna, who is praised by each according to his/ her ability, whose divine sports are wonderous, who exists during absorption, who is the force that exists after this absorption, who knows what happens before, after and during absorption, who is form of bliss, who blesses those who seek refuge in Him with bliss, is now before our very eyes! That unparalleled divine energy, the Supreme Energy, exists in front of our eyes physically today as Srikrishna!

Only Lord Srikrishna possesses the capacity to purify our minds! Even through yogic pursuits (yoga sadhana) He cannot be attained!’ in this manner they spoke about Krishna.

‘O dear friends! The eminent saints, who preach the secretive essence, sing the glories of the Lord through the medium of Vedas and Vedantas. Every Veda glorifies divine sports of that Lord!

Paramātma, with His power of illusion creates, sustains and absorbs this universe. Even then He does not have in Him the feeling of doership i.e. ‘I am the one performing the action’. Neither does He have feelings of like-dislike towards them. Hasn’t that Supreme Paramatma has come down as our Srikrishna?

In every eon (yuga), when unrighteous persons who are filled with tamo guna (traits of inertia, laziness etc.) begin to rule, this Supreme Lord, for the welfare of the world accepts traits of purity and goodness (sattva guna) and keeps on taking incarnations, isn’t it? He upholds devotion (bhakti), truthfulness, righteousness (dharma) and compassion. How astonishing!

Due to the birth of this husband of Lakshmi or Lord of all Lords in their clan, the lineage of Yadus has attained untold glory!

Due to His movements, the land of Vrija has become supremely pure! Aho! What a wonder! The glory of Dwaraka far exceeds the glory of heaven! The citizens of Dwaraka, who daily have the darshan of their Lord Krishna, obtain His benevolent gaze that is showered upon them in the form of His tender smile!

O dear friends! Those wives of His must have undertaken limitless pujas, vratas, homas, yagnas and other rituals and pleased the Supreme Godhead immensely! For how many births they would have undertaken these rituals! How many limitless yagnas and yaagas they would have performed to attain this luck! That is why they are blessed with this fortune today. This is because they have been blessed to drink the nectar from His lips! The women of Vrija always sought this and often fainted as it was not available.

During swayamvara ceremonies (where the bride selects her groom), Krishna defeated many powerful kings such as Shishupala and using his courage as his wedding gift, obtained Rukmini, Jhambavati and Nagnajiti and others as His wives. These ladies were blessed with Pradyumna, Sāmba, Amba and others as their sons.

In addition, He killed Narakasura and delivered freedom to thousands of women who were in captivity. To these ladies, the lotus eyed Srikrishna was their protector and their husband. With His sweet words and with gifts He filled their hearts with joy. He never left any home. In this way He resided in every home. What a wonder! They are truly lucky beings!’

Srikrishna, with a smile observed these ladies who were speaking thus, while He was proceeding in the chariot.

Like the birds that become silent upon observing the evening Sunset, all those who were observing Bheeshma Pitamaha merging into the Nirguna Parabrahma (Absolute Lord devoid of traits), remained speechless.

At that time celestials played divine drums. Human beings sounded kettle drums. Gentle-natured and honest kings extolled his greatness. From the sky flowers rained down.

Yudhisthira completed the final rites and other related ceremonies for Bheeshma Pitamaha, who gave up his body after attaining liberation while living (jeevan mukti). He mourned the death of his grandfather.

All the saints present there worshipped Srikrishna with the secretive names and hymns from the Vedas. Fixing their mind totally upon Him, they returned to their respective hermitages. All the saints had observed the faith and devotion that Bheeshma had towards the Supreme Lord. They too now fixed their mind solely upon that Lord.

Yudhisthira together with Srikrishna returned to Hastinapura. He consoled his paternal uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his aunt Gāndhāri. With the blessings of Srikrishna and the permission of his uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra, He ruled the kingdom, which he had inherited from his ancestors, efficiently and righteously.

With this the 9^th chapter of the first canto comes to an end.

First Canto Tenth Chapter

In this chapter Lord Srikrishna’s return to Dwaraka is covered.

Hearing Maharishi Suta’s narration that Yudhisthira, having been initiated into the rules of righteousness (dharma) by his grandfather Bheeshma ruled wisely and righteously, Maharishi Śounaka enquired in the following way:

“After having killed the evil Duryodhana and others who had wrongfully usurped their kingdom, how did the supremely righteous Yudhisthira, who had grieved the killing of his kith and kin, rule the kingdom together with his brothers?”

Maharishi Suta replied, “The fire called ‘hatred’ (dwesha) that was born in this Kuru dynasty, engulfed almost everything. Almost the entire lineage was reduced to ashes. Srikrishna, the creator and ruler of the universe, ensured that a new tender sprout called Parikshit emerged in that Kuru lineage.

He enthroned Yudhisthira as the king and rejoiced greatly. Due to initiation from Srikrishna and Bheeshma, Yudhisthira attained enlightenment and with this, his infatuations (moha) were washed away. He sought refuge in Srikrishna.

With the help from his younger brothers, Yudhisthira ruled the kingdom that stretched up to the ocean, perfectly, like Lord Indra. During his rule, the clouds showered rain in plenty. Mother Earth produced things in great abundance. Cows gave plentiful milk. Rivers, oceans, trees, mountains, and crops of every type, gave plentiful fruits in every season to the king. During the rule of Yudhisthira, who had no enemy, citizens did not have to fear physical diseases or mental ailments at any point of time. This is a noteworthy point. Such was his rule! Free from all forms of troubles and sorrows, people lived happily.

In order to dispel the grief of the Pandavas and in order to bring joy to Subhadra (his sister), Krishna camped at Hastinapura for a long time. It can be said that He stayed there for many months. He was there with them till they overcame that grief. He was there with them until they were totally satisfied and happy.

Thereafter he sought permission from Yudhisthira to return to his city Dwaraka. He embraced Yudhisthira and bowed to him. He mounted the chariot. At that time those who were dear to him, embraced him and also bowed to Him.

Unable to bear the separation from the Lord Subhadra, Draupadi, Kunti, Uttara, Gāndhāri, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Yuyutsu, Kripacharya, Dhoumya, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhima, Satyavati and many others fell unconscious.

Sat-saṇgān mukta-duḥsaṇgo hātuṃ notsahate budhaḥ

Kīrtyamānaṃ yaśo yasya sakṛd ākarṇya rocanam

By associating with Mahatmas through satsang, the wise give up their bad associations (dus-sanga). Such wise persons, who have tasted the joy in glorifying the Lord, will never seek to stay away from it.

Pandavas are those who spent their time seeing only Him, talking to Him, eating along with Him and living with His vicinity. Of what use is that limitless wealth? Of what use is the name and fame? Of what use is supreme prosperity? The pain of separation from the Lord is always severe. To stay away from Him is always sorrowful. When the most important object is distanced from us, all these materialistic wealth and comforts cease to be visible to the eyes. Only darkness seems to remain.

How could Pandavas, who had spent time only for Him, now withstand this separation from Him? These were the people who had dined with Him, chatted with Him, touched Him, slept near Him and lived along with Him. In varied ways, these people had all loved Him and had become extremely dear to Him.

Now when He announced His departure to Dwaraka, how were they to withstand this separation? Their hearts were completely under the sway of His divine love! Such was His love! It was supreme love that knew no bounds! It was priceless love beyond any form of measure!

Without even blinking an eyelid they kept gazing at the path He was taking. They moved about like statues. The ladies, who loved Him dearly, were unable to control the flood of tears when Krishna, son of Devaki, stepped out of the house to mount the chariot. Yet, with great difficultly they controlled themselves, as they felt it to be inauspicious to shed tears at time of departure.

When Swami is leaving or when a person is leaving for a good auspicious task it is wrong to cry, isn’t it? So with great difficulty they stopped their tears.

When Srikrishna was leaving for Dwaraka, various auspicious instruments such as drums, mridamgam, large drums, conch, kettle drums, veena, band, flutes and bells were played.

Hare Sri Krishna

Bheeshma’s hymn on Srikrishna:

“The Supreme Lord is inherently blissful. Even then at times playfully using His power of illusion (maya shakti) as a tool He descends to the material world by taking on a gross body. It is due to this power of illusion that this material universe is created.

Such a Supreme Lord, the crown jewel of the Yadu lineage, sits right now in front of my eyes! I am placing at the feet of this Lord, my mind, which through strict adherence to righteousness (dharma), has been rendered free from any form of desires.” -said Bheeshma Pitamaha while steadily gazing at Srikrishna who was sitting in front of him.

Tri-bhuvana-kamanaṃ tamāla-varṇaṃ ravi-kara-gaura-varāmbaraṃ dadhāne

Vapur alaka-kulāvṛtānanābjaṃ vijaya-sakhe ratir astu me ‘navadyā

I pray that I should develop selfless love, which is devoid of any form of desires, towards that Supreme Lord Srikrishna, the friend of Arjuna, who is of bluish-green complexion, who wears golden yellow clothing that glitters like the rising Sun, whose lotus-like face appears covered with sandal paste and whose form/ appearance is the most magnificent in all the three planes of existence (tribhuvana)!

During the war, due to the dust raised by the horse hoofs, His hair turned ashen (smoke grey colour). At that time His face, which was drenched in sweat, was shining radiantly. My sharp arrows tore through his armour and pierced His skin. May my mind remain totally focused upon such Lord Srikrishna!

Immediately upon hearing the words of his friend Arjuna, Krishna drove the chariot and stationed it in the centre of the battlefield, between the two armies. Merely with His gaze He shortened the lifespan of all opponents who had assembled there. May I develop firm devotion towards Srikrishna, the charioteer of Arjuna!

Upon entering the battlefield, Arjuna immediately saw the Kaurava soldiers and warriors stationed for war. His gaze fell upon me, who was standing right in front, leading this enemy army. He instantly felt that it was unrighteous to wage a war wherein he would kill his own kith and kin and hence was disinclined to fight. At such a crucial time, Srikrishna preached to him the knowledge of the Self (atma vidya) and dispelled his spiritual ignorance (ajnana). He ensured that Arjuna walks on the path of righteousness (dharma). I pray that I should develop love towards the lotus feet of such Lord Srikrishna!

Srikrishna, who had assumed the role of a charioteer and who had taken a pledge not to take up any weapon during the war, broke His pledge only for my sake. This is purely because I had pledged that I would make Him hold a weapon. With the intention of fulfilling my desire and through this ensuring that I become great, the Lord broke His promise.  Just as a lion rushes in great fury to kill the elephant, this Lord got down from the chariot, took a wheel and rushed towards me in such mad fury that the earth shook. While he was thus rushing, His upper garment slipped and fell.

Due to the impact of the arrows released by me during the war, His protective shield was completely shattered. The powerful sharp arrows pierced his body and blood was flowing profusely. Arjuna, in various ways, tried to stop this Lord who was rushing in uncontrollable fury to kill me. Unmindful of all this Lord Srikrishna rushed forward to attack me. He is my sole refuge.

Now when I am about to give up my life, let me develop absolute love towards Lord Srikrishna, who is extremely handsome in appearance and who holding the goad in one hand and the bridle rope in another, zealously protected the chariot of Arjuna! This is because those who lost their life in the war, while seeing this form of His, attained oneness of form with Him (sārupya moksha)!

With His enchanting gait, fascinating deeds, charming appearance, pleasant smile and gaze that is filled totally with love, Krishna attracted the Gopikas who worshipped Him. Suddenly, in between (this worship) He disappeared from the scene. With this the love of the Gopikas towards Him surged even more. Forgetting everything else, these Gopikas, in absolute mad love towards Him, began to imitate His deeds and His other favorite pastimes. Thus these Gopikas merged into Him. Likewise even I should merge into that Lord”.

Bheeshma began recollecting all the pastimes of Krishna. In this short speech he explained the entire history of Krishna.

“Yudhisthira performed the Rājasuya Yagna. In that great assembly, this Lord Srikrishna, in the presence of all eminent saints, scholars and kings, accepted worship in my presence. That Supreme Lord has now emerged as the form of my Self (atma swaroopa)!

That Lord who is inherently devoid of birth, remains within all living beings created by Him, in the form of their Self.  There is only one Sun. Nevertheless, each eye that sees it perceives it in a different way. In a similar manner, this Lord illumines differently in various different forms.

How many people observe the Sun! Countless beings observe it including insects and worms. But to each it appears differently.

I, who have transcended differentiation and illusion (bheda-moha), have realized that Krishna, who is the personification of the non-dual (adviteeya) Parabrahma, is nothing but the form of my Self (atma swaroopa)!

In this way, Bheeshma, using the 3 actions called mind, speech, vision (manas, vak, drsti), fixed his intellect (buddhi) perfectly upon Lord Srikrishna, who was the form of his Self (atma) and withdrawing his breath into himself, left his body.

Jai Sriman Nārāyaṇa.