Radha Krishna deities adorned with flower garlands on temple altar with pink backdrop
    Krishna sacred lotus feet divine symbols spiritual worship
    ← Back to Bhajans

    Bhishma Stuti

    Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.32 – 42 - Bhishma's prayers glorifying Lord Krishna

    Sanskrit Verses

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.32

    iti matir upakalpitā vitṛṣṇā bhagavati sātvata-puṅgave vibhūmni sva-sukham upagate kvacid vihartuṁ prakṛtim upeyuṣi yad-bhava-pravāhaḥ

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.33

    tri-bhuvana-kamanaṁ tamāla-varṇaṁ ravi-kara-gaura-vara-ambaraṁ dadhāne vapur alaka-kulāvṛtānanābjaṁ vijaya-sakhe ratir astu me 'navadyā

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.34

    yudhi turaga-rajo-vidhūmra-viṣvak kaca-lulita-śramavāry-alaṅkṛtāsye mama niśita-śarair vibhidyamāna tvaci vilasat-kavace 'stu kṛṣṇa ātmā

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.35

    sapadi sakhi-vaco niśamya madhye nija-parayor balayo rathaṁ niveśya sthitavati para-sainikāyur akṣṇā hṛtavati pārtha-sakhe ratir mamāstu

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.36

    vyavahita-pṛtanā-mukhaṁ nirīkṣya sva-jana-vadhād vimukhasya doṣa-buddhyā kumatim aharad ātma-vidyayā yaś caraṇa-ratiḥ paramasya tasya me 'stu

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.37

    sva-nigamam apahāya mat-pratijñām ṛtam adhikartum avapluto rathasthaḥ dhṛta-ratha-caraṇo 'bhyayāc caladgur harir iva hantum ibhaṁ gatottarīyaḥ

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.38

    śita-viśikha-hato viśīrṇa-daṁśaḥ kṣataja-paripluta ātatāyino me prasabham abhisasāra mad-vadhārthaṁ sa bhavatu me bhagavān gatir mukundaḥ

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.39

    vijaya-ratha-kuṭumbha ātta-totre dhṛta-haya-raśmini tac-chriyekṣaṇīye bhagavati ratir astu me mumūrṣor yam iha nirīkṣya hatā gatāḥ sva-rūpam

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.40

    lalita-gati-vilāsa-valguhāsa praṇaya-nirīkṣaṇa-kalpitorumānāḥ kṛtam anukṛtavatya unmadāndhāḥ prakṛtim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvaḥ

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.41

    muni-gaṇa-nṛpa-varya-saṅkule 'ntaḥ sadasi yudhiṣṭhira-rājasūya eṣām arhaṇam upapeda īkṣaṇīyo mama dṛśi-gocara eṣa āvir ātmā

    SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 1.9.42

    tam imam aham ajaṁ śarīra-bhājāṁ hṛdi hṛdi dhiṣṭhitam ātma-kalpitānām pratidṛśam iva naikadhārkam ekaṁ samadhi-gato 'smi vidhūta-bheda-mohaḥ

    Translation

    SB 1.9.32: Bhīṣmadeva said: Let me now invest my thinking, feeling and willing, which were so long engaged in different subjects and occupational duties, in the all powerful Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is always self-satisfied, but sometimes, being the leader of the devotees, He enjoys transcendental pleasure by descending to the material world, although from Him only the material world is created.

    SB 1.9.33: Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in His transcendental body, which resembles the bluish color of the tamāla tree. His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems [upper, middle and lower]. May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire fruitive results.

    SB 1.9.34: On the battlefield [where Śrī Kṛṣṇa attended Arjuna out of friendship], the flowing hair of Lord Kṛṣṇa turned ashen due to the dust raised by the hoofs of the horses. And because of His labor, beads of sweat wetted His face. All these decorations, intensified by the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows, were enjoyed by Him. Let my mind thus go unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

    SB 1.9.35: In obedience to the command of His friend, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the arena of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra between the soldiers of Arjuna and Duryodhana, and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His merciful glance. This was done simply by His looking at the enemy. Let my mind be fixed upon that Kṛṣṇa.

    SB 1.9.36: When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by delivering transcendental knowledge. May His lotus feet always remain the object of my attraction.

    SB 1.9.37: Fulfilling my vow and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.

    SB 1.9.38: May He, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who awards salvation, be my ultimate destination. On the battlefield He charged me, as if angry because of the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered, and His body was smeared with blood due to the wounds.

    SB 1.9.39: At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna's chariot by all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained their original forms after death.

    SB 1.9.40: Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhāma [the gopīs]. The damsels imitated the characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rāsa dance].

    SB 1.9.41: At the Rājasūya-yajña [sacrifice] performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, there was the greatest assembly of all the elite men of the world, the royal and learned orders, and in that great assembly Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was worshiped by one and all as the most exalted Personality of Godhead. This happened during my presence, and I remembered the incident in order to keep my mind upon the Lord.

    SB 1.9.42: Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone's heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone's heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.

    About Bhishma Stuti

    These beautiful prayers were spoken by Bhīṣmadeva, the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, as he lay on a bed of arrows at the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. In his final moments, Bhīṣma meditated upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and glorified His transcendental qualities, pastimes, and His role as Arjuna's charioteer. These verses are especially significant during the month of Kārtika (Dāmodara month) as they express pure devotion and surrender to the Supreme Lord.

    Spiritual Significance

    Bhishma Stuti is the dying meditation of Bhishmadeva — the perfect example of departing this world while fixing the mind upon Krishna. It captures Krishna on the Kurukshetra battlefield, hair tousled by the chariot's speed, garlanded with the dust of war.

    Scriptural Source & Tradition

    Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 9, verses 32–42. Translated with elaborate purport by Srila Prabhupada in his commentary.

    Commentary from the Acharyas

    Srila Prabhupada explains that Bhishmadeva, though a Mahajana, gave his final attention not to liberation but to the form of Krishna as charioteer — proving that personal devotion to Krishna's beautiful form is the topmost goal, higher even than impersonal liberation.

    When to Sing / Chant

    On Bhishma Ashtami, during Bhagavatam class, when meditating on death and dying gracefully in Krishna Consciousness, and as a regular Bhagavatam shloka practice.

    Benefits for the Devotee

    Trains the mind for the moment of death, deepens attachment to Krishna's Kurukshetra-lila, brings the chanter into the line of the twelve mahajanas, and inspires the courage to act in Krishna's service until one's final breath.

    Gratitude to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

    We offer our humble obeisances at the lotus feet of our founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, without whose causeless mercy the priceless prayers, bhajans and sacred literature of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition would have remained inaccessible to most of the world. By his herculean preaching efforts, his unparalleled translations and his founding of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the holy names, pastimes and instructions of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are today chanted in every town and village.

    nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
    srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
    namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
    nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine

    All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to the Vaishnava acharyas in the disciplic succession.

    Lord Jagannath Baladeva Subhadra deities temple darshan
    Srila Prabhupada founder ISKCON spiritual master portrait