SECTION LII
"Vaisampayana said, 'Hearing these words of Krishna fraught with Morality
and profit, Santanu's Bhishma, answered him in the following words.
"Bhishma said, 'O master of all the worlds, O mighty-armed one, O Siva, O
Narayana, O thou of unfading glory, hearing the words spoken by thee I
have been filled with joy. But what words (of instruction), O master of
speech, can I say in thy presence, when especially in all the subjects of
speech have been dealt with in the speech?[157] Whatever in either world
should be done or is done, proceeds from thy intelligent self, O god!
That person who is competent to discourse on the subject of heaven in the
presence of the chief of the gods himself is competent to discourse on
the interpretation of morality and pleasure and profit and salvation in
thy presence. My mind, O slayer of Madhu, is exceedingly agitated by the
pain of arrow-wounds. My limbs are weak. My understanding is not clear. I
am so afflicted, O Govinda, by these shafts resembling poison or fire
that I have not power to utter anything. My strength is abandoning me. My
life-breaths are hastening to leave me. The very vitals of my body are
burning. My understanding is clouded. From weakness my utterance is
becoming indistinct. How then can I venture to speak? O enhancer of (the
glory of) Dasarha's race, be gratified with me. O mighty-armed one, I
will not say anything. Pardon me (for my unwillingness). The very master
of speech (Vrihaspati), in speaking in thy presence, will be overcome by
hesitation. I cannot any longer distinguish the points of the compass,
nor the sky from the earth! Through thy energy, O slayer of Madhu, I am
only barely alive. Do thou, therefore, thyself speak for the good of king
Yudhishthira the just, for thou art the ordainer of all the ordinances.
How, O Krishna, when thou, the eternal creator of the universe, art
present, can one like me speak (on such subjects) like a disciple in the
presence of the preceptor?'
"Vasudeva said, 'The words spoken by thee are worthy of thee that art the
foremost one of Kuru's race, thee that art endued with great energy, thee
that art of great soul, and thee that art possessed of great patience and
conversant with every subject. Regarding what hast thou said unto me
about the pain of thy arrow-wounds, receive, O Bhishma, this boon that I
grant thee, O puissant one, from my grace. Discomfort and stupefaction
and burning and pain and hunger and thirst shall not, O son of Ganga,
overcome thee, O thou of unfading glory! Thy perceptions and memory, O
sinless one, shall be unclouded.[158] The understanding shall not fail
thee. The mind, O Bhishma, freed from the qualities of passion and
darkness, will always be subject to the quality of goodness, like the
moon emerged from the clouds. Thy understanding will penetrate whatever
subject connected with duty, morality, or profit, thou wilt think upon. O
tiger among kings, obtaining celestial vision, thou wilt, O thou of
immeasurable prowess, succeed in beholding the four orders of created
things. Endued with the eye of knowledge, thou wilt, O Bhishma, behold,
like fishes in a limpid stream, all created things that thou mayst
endeavour to recollect!'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Then those great Rishis, with Vyasa amongst
them, adored Krishna with hymns from the Richs, the Yajuses, and the
Samans. A celestial shower of flowers belonging to every season fell on
that spot where he of Vrishni's race, with Ganga's son and the son of
Pandu were. Celestial instruments of every kind played in the welkin and
the tribes of Apsaras began to sing. Nothing of evil and no portent of
any evil kind were seen there. An auspicious, pleasant, and pure breeze,
bearing every kind of fragrance, began to blow. All the points of the
compass became clear and quiet, and all the animals and birds began to
rove in peace. Soon after, like a fire at the extremity of a great
forest, the divine Surya of a thousand rays was seen to descend to the
west. The great Rishis then, rising up, saluted Janardana and Bhishma and
king Yudhishthira. Upon this, Kesava, and the sons of Pandu, and Satyaki,
and Sanjaya, and Saradwata's son Kripa, bowed in reverence to those
sages. Devoted to the practice of righteousness, those sages, thus
worshipped by Kesava and others, speedily proceeded to their respective
abodes, saying, 'We will return tomorrow.' After this, Kesava and the
Pandavas, saluting Bhishma and circumambulating him, ascended their
handsome cars. Those heroes then proceeded, accompanied by many other
cars decked with golden Kuvaras, and infuriated elephants looking like
mountains and steeds fleet as Garudas, and foot-soldiers armed with bows
and weapons. That army, moving with great speed, proceeded in two
divisions, one in the van and the other in the rear of those princes. The
scene resembled the two currents of the great river Narmada at the point
where it is divided by the Rikshavat mountains standing across it.
Gladdening that great host, the divine Chandramas rose before it in the
firmament, once more inspiring with moisture, by his own force, the
terrestrial herbs and plants whose juice had been sucked up by the Sun.
Then that bull of Yadu's race and the sons of Pandu, entering the (Kuru)
city whose splendour resembled that of the city of Indra itself,
proceeded to their respective mansions like tired lions seeking their
caves.'"
