Bhishma stuti with English Meaning

This stuti is sung by Bhishma when he is about to depart. Here are the verses before
this stuti from Srimad Bhagwat:
Sta said: "Yudhishthhira, who heard that from him who was lying on a bed of
arrows, asked him, with the rishis listening, about the diverse religious duties.
Bhshma described to him the different stages of life and the vocations as determined
by the qualities of the person next to the way how one should deal systematically with
both the symptoms of attachment and detachment. He explained about the duties of
charity, rulership and liberation by giving their divisions and gave the general outline
of the duties of women and devotional service. Knowing the truth he described, o
sages, the [four basic civil virtues of] religious dutifulness, economy, fulfilment of
desires and liberation, to which he cited various known histories. During the time
Bhshma described the duties, the sun ran over the northern hemisphere, which is
precisely the desired time preferred by the mystics when they want to leave this
world. Bhshmadeva, the protector of thousands of sciences and arts, then fell silent
and with a mind freed from all bondage he fixed his eyes wide open upon the Original
Person Lord S'r Krishna, the Fourhanded One who was standing before him in
yellow garments. Simply looking at Him, the Annihilator of the Inauspicious, his
meditation purified and his pain from the arrows disappeared instantly. And while he
prayed before the material tabernacle all the activities of his senses ceased when he
departed for the Controller of All Living Beings.



Let me being freed from desires prepare my mind for the Supreme Lord, the Leader
of the Devotees, the Great Self-contented One who in the realization of His
transcendental joy at times [as an avtara] takes pleasure in accepting this material
world with her creation and destruction.


He is the most desirable person of the higher, lower and middle worlds. Bluish like a
tamla tree, He wears His dress that shines like the golden rays of the sun. He has a
body decorated with sandalwood pulp and a face like a lotus. May my love free from
material motives repose in the friend of Arjuna.


Let the mind be directed towards S'r Krishna who, with His scattered hair that on the
battlefield turned ashen from the dust of the hoofs, with His face decorated with
perspiration and His skin pierced by my sharp arrows, wearing His protective armor
took pleasure in all of it.


After hearing the command of His friend He drove His chariot between the opposing
forces, where positioned He diminished the lifespan of the enemy by simply looking
at them. Let there be my love for that friend of Arjuna.


While the troops were looking at a distance, He with His transcendental knowledge
eradicated the ignorance of him who, because of a polluted intelligence, was reluctant
to kill his kinsmen. Let there be the transcendence of my attraction for His feet.


For the sake of the fulfillment of my duty factually to be more of violence and against
His own sworn principle [to stay out of the fray], He got down from His chariot, took

up it's wheel and - while dropping His outer garment - paced towards me like a lion
that is about to kill an elephant.


Wounded by the sharp arrows and without His shield He, smeared with blood, in the
angry mood of the great aggressor moved towards me in order to kill me. May that
Supreme Lord who awards salvation become my destination.


Let me, at this hour of death, be of love for the Personality of Godhead who,
controlling the horses with a whip in His right hand and the reins in the left, so
elegant to behold by all means protected the chariot of Arjuna. It was by looking at
Him that those who died at this place realized their original form.


Watching the attractive movements of His supremely spirited, fascinating acts and
sweet smiles, the gops of Vrajadhma [the village of Krishna's youth] imitating Him
in ecstasy, found their original nature.


When King Yudhishthhira performed the [Rjasya] royal sacrifice where the great
sages and kings were assembled, He received the respectful worship of all the
members of the elite. I present there recognized Him at the time [and still remember
Him now] als the spirit soul, as the object of worship.


Having experienced the absorption of being freed from the misconceptions of duality,
I know [ever since] that He, now present before me, is the One Unborn in the heart of
the conditioned soul. It is He who in His being situated as the Supersoul in the heart
of all who are created by Him, just like the one sun, is looked upon different from
every angle.
Note: These verses are from Srimadbhagavatam, First Canto, and Ninth chapter
verses 32 -42