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sarvam—all this; kala-krtam—done by inevitable time; manye—I think; bhavatam ca—for you also; yat—whatever; apriyam—detestable; sa-palah—with the rulers; yat-vase—under the control of that time; lokah—everyone in every planet; vayoh—the wind carries; iva—as; ghana-avalih—a line of clouds.

In my opinion, this is all due to inevitable time, under whose control everyone in every planet is carried, just as the clouds are carried by the wind.

There is control by time all over the space within the universe, as there is control by time all over the planets. All the big gigantic planets, including the sun, are being controlled by the force of air, as the clouds are carried by the force of air. Similarly, the inevitable kala, or time, controls even the action of the air and other elements. Everything, therefore, is controlled by the supreme kala, a forceful representative of the Lord within the material world. Thus Yudhisthira should not be sorry for the inconceivable action of time. Everyone has to bear the actions and reactions of time as long as one is within the conditions of the material world. Yudhisthira should not think that he had committed sins in his previous birth and is suffering the consequence. Even the most pious has to suffer the condition of material nature. But a pious man is faithful to the Lord, for he is guided by the bona fide brahmana and Vaisnava following the religious principles. These three guiding principles should be the aim of life. One should not be disturbed by the tricks of eternal time. Even the great controller of the universe, Brahmaji, is also under the control of that time; therefore, one should not grudge being thus controlled by time despite being a true follower of religious principles.

SB1.9.15

TEXT 15

yatra dharma-suto raja

gada-panir vrkodarah

krsno ’stri gandivam capam

suhrt krsnas tato vipat

yatra—where there is; dharma-sutah—the son of Dharmaraja; raja—the King; gada-panih—with his mighty club in hand; vrkodarah—Bhima; krsnah—Arjuna; astri—carrier of the weapon; gandivam—Gandiva; capam—bow; suhrt—well-wisher; krsnah—Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead; tatah—thereof; vipat—reverse.

O how wonderful is the influence of inevitable time. It is irreversible—otherwise, how can there be reverses in the presence of King Yudhisthira, the son of the demigod controlling religion; Bhima, the great fighter with a club; the great bowman Arjuna with his mighty weapon Gandiva; and above all, the Lord, the direct well-wisher of the Pandavas?

As far as the material or spiritual resources were required, there was no scarcity in the case of the Pandavas. Materially they were well equipped because two great warriors, namely Bhima and Arjuna, were there. Spiritually the King himself was the symbol of religion, and above all of them the Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, was personally concerned with their affairs as the well-wisher. And yet there were so many reverses on the side of the Pandavas. Despite the power of pious acts, the power of personalities, the power of expert management and the power of weapons under the direct supervision of Lord Krsna, the Pandavas suffered so many practical reverses, which can only be explained as due to the influence of kala, inevitable time. Kala is identical with the Lord Himself, and therefore the influence of kala indicates the inexplicable wish of the Lord Himself. There is nothing to be lamented when a matter is beyond the control of any human being.

SB1.9.16

TEXT 16

na hy asya karhicid rajan

puman veda vidhitsitam

yad vijijnasaya yukta

muhyanti kavayo ’pi hi

na—never; hi—certainly; asya—His; karhicit—whatsoever; rajan—O King; puman—anyone; veda—knows; vidhitsitam—plan; yat—which; vijijnasaya—with exhaustive inquiries; yuktah—being engaged; muhyanti—bewildered; kavayah—great philosophers; api—even; hi—certainly.

O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord [Sri Krsna]. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered.

The bewilderment of Maharaja Yudhisthira over his past sinful acts and the resultant sufferings, etc., is completely negated by the great authority Bhisma (one of the twelve authorized persons). Bhisma wanted to impress upon Maharaja Yudhisthira that since time immemorial no one, including such demigods as Siva and Brahma, could ascertain the real plan of the Lord. So what can we understand about it? It is useless also to inquire about it. Even the exhaustive philosophical inquiries of sages cannot ascertain the plan of the Lord. The best policy is simply to abide by the orders of the Lord without argument. The sufferings of the Pandavas were never due to their past deeds. The Lord had to execute the plan of establishing the kingdom of virtue, and therefore His own devotees suffered temporarily in order to establish the conquest of virtue. Bhismadeva was certainly satisfied by seeing the triumph of virtue, and he was glad to see King Yudhisthira on the throne, although he himself fought against him. Even a great fighter like Bhisma could not win the Battle of Kuruksetra because the Lord wanted to show that vice cannot conquer virtue, regardless of who tries to execute it. Bhismadeva was a great devotee of the Lord, but he chose to fight against the Pandavas by the will of the Lord because the Lord wanted to show that a fighter like Bhisma cannot win on the wrong side.

SB1.9.17

TEXT 17

tasmad idam daiva-tantram

vyavasya bharatarsabha

tasyanuvihito ’natha

natha pahi prajah prabho

tasmat—therefore; idam—this; daiva-tantram—enchantment of providence only; vyavasya—ascertaining; bharata-rsabha—O best among the descendants of Bharata; tasya—by Him; anuvihitah—as desired; anathah—helpless; natha—O master; pahi—just take care of; prajah—of the subjects; prabho—O Lord.

O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhisthira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.

SB1.9.18

TEXT 18

esa vai bhagavan saksad

adyo narayanah puman

mohayan mayaya lokam

gudhas carati vrsnisu

esah—this; vai—positively; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; saksat—original; adyah—the first; narayanah—the Supreme Lord (who lies down on the water); puman—the supreme enjoyer; mohayan—bewildering; mayaya—by His self-created energy; lokam—the planets; gudhah—who is inconceivable; carati—moves; vrsnisu—among the Vrsni family.

This Sri Krsna is no other than the inconceivable, original Personality of Godhead. He is the first Narayana, the supreme enjoyer. But He is moving amongst the descendants of King Vrsni just like one of us and He is bewildering us with His self-created energy.

The Vedic system of acquiring knowledge is the deductive process. The Vedic knowledge is received perfectly by disciplic succession from authorities. Such knowledge is never dogmatic, as ill conceived by less intelligent persons. The mother is the authority to verify the identity of the father. She is the authority for such confidential knowledge. Therefore, authority is not dogmatic. In the Bhagavad-gita this truth is confirmed in the Fourth Chapter (Bg. 4.2), and the perfect system of learning is to receive it from authority. The very same system is accepted universally as truth, but only the false arguer speaks against it. For example, modern spacecraft fly in the sky, and when scientists say that they travel to the other side of the moon, men believe these stories blindly because they have accepted the modern scientists as authorities. The authorities speak, and the people in general believe them. But in the case of Vedic truths, they have been taught not to believe. Even if they accept them they give a different interpretation. Each and every man wants a direct perception of Vedic knowledge, but foolishly they deny it. This means that the misguided man can believe one authority, the scientist, but will reject the authority of the Vedas. The result is that people have degenerated.

Here is an authority speaking about Sri Krsna as the original Personality of Godhead and the first Narayana. Even such an impersonalist as Acarya Sankara has said in the beginning of his commentation on the Bhagavad-gita that Narayana, the Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material creation. The universe is one of the material creations, but Narayana is transcendental to such material paraphernalia.

Bhismadeva is one of the twelve mahajanas who know the principles of transcendental knowledge. His confirmation of Lord Sri Krsna’s being the original Personality of Godhead is also corroborated by the impersonalist Sankara. All other acaryas have also confirmed this statement, and thus there is no chance of not accepting Lord Sri Krsna as the original Personality of Godhead. Bhismadeva says that He is the first Narayana. This is also confirmed by Brahmaji in the Bhagavatam (10.14.14). Krsna is the first Narayana. In the spiritual world (Vaikuntha) there are unlimited numbers of Narayanas, who are all the same Personality of Godhead and are considered to be the plenary expansions of the original Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. The first form of the Lord Sri Krsna first expands Himself as the form of Baladeva, and Baladeva expands in so many other forms, such as Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Vasudeva, Narayana, Purusa, Rama and Nrsimha. All these expansions are one and the same visnu-tattva, and Sri Krsna is the original source of all the plenary expansions. He is therefore the direct Personality of Godhead. He is the creator of the material world, and He is the predominating Deity known as Narayana in all the Vaikuntha planets. Therefore, His movements amongst human beings is another sort of bewilderment. The Lord therefore says in the Bhagavad-gita that foolish persons consider Him to be one of the human beings without knowing the intricacies of His movements.

The bewilderment regarding Sri Krsna is due to the action of His twofold internal and external energies upon the third one, called marginal energy. The living entities are expansions of His marginal energy, and thus they are sometimes bewildered by the internal energy and sometimes by the external energy. By internal energetic bewilderment, Sri Krsna expands Himself into unlimited numbers of Narayanas and exchanges or accepts transcendental loving service from the living entities in the transcendental world. And by His external energetic expansions, He incarnates Himself in the material world amongst the men, animals or demigods to reestablish His forgotten relation with the living entities in different species of life. Great authorities like Bhisma, however, escape His bewilderment by the mercy of the Lord.

SB1.9.19

TEXT 19

asyanubhavam bhagavan

veda guhyatamam sivah

devarsir naradah saksad

bhagavan kapilo nrpa

asya—of Him; anubhavam—glories; bhagavan—the most powerful; veda—knows; guhya-tamam—very confidentially; sivah—Lord Siva; deva-rsih—the great sage among the demigods; naradah—Narada; saksat—directly; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; kapilah—Kapila; nrpa—O King.

O King, Lord Siva, Narada the sage amongst the demigods, and Kapila, the incarnation of Godhead, all know very confidentially about His glories through direct contact.

Pure devotees of the Lord are all bhavas, or persons who know the glories of the Lord in different transcendental loving services. As the Lord has innumerable expansions of His plenary form, there are innumerable pure devotees of the Lord, who are engaged in the exchange of service of different humors. Ordinarily there are twelve great devotees of the Lord, namely Brahma, Narada, Siva, Kumara, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Bhisma, Janaka, Sukadeva Gosvami, Bali Maharaja and Yamaraja. Bhismadeva, although one of them, has mentioned only three important names of the twelve who know the glories of the Lord. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, one of the great acaryas in the modern age, explains that anubhava, or the glory of the Lord, is first appreciated by the devotee in ecstasy manifesting the symptoms of perspiring, trembling, weeping, bodily eruptions, etc., which are further enhanced by steady understanding of the glories of the Lord. Such different understandings of bhavas are exchanged between Yasoda and the Lord (binding the Lord by ropes) and in the chariot driving by the Lord in the exchange of love with Arjuna. These glories of the Lord are exhibited in His being subordinated before His devotees, and that is another feature of the glories of the Lord. Sukadeva Gosvami and the Kumaras, although situated in the transcendental position, became converted by another feature of bhava and turned into pure devotees of the Lord. Tribulations imposed upon the devotees by the Lord constitute another exchange of transcendental bhava between the Lord and the devotees. The Lord says “I put My devotee into difficulty, and thus the devotee becomes more purified in exchanging transcendental bhava with Me.” Placing the devotee into material troubles necessitates delivering him from the illusory material relations. The material relations are based on reciprocation of material enjoyment, which depends mainly on material resources. Therefore, when material resources are withdrawn by the Lord, the devotee is cent percent attracted toward the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Thus the Lord snatches the fallen soul from the mire of material existence. Tribulations offered by the Lord to His devotee are different from the tribulations resulting from vicious action. All these glories of the Lord are especially known to the great mahajanas like Brahma, Siva, Narada, Kapila, Kumara and Bhisma, as mentioned above, and one is able to grasp it by their grace.

SB1.9.20

TEXT 20

yam manyase matuleyam

priyam mitram suhrttamam

akaroh sacivam dutam

sauhrdad atha sarathim

yam—the person; manyase—you think; matuleyam—maternal cousin; priyam—very dear; mitram—friend; suhrt-tamam—ardent well-wisher; akaroh—executed; sacivam—counsel; dutam—messenger; sauhrdat—by good will; atha—thereupon; sarathim—charioteer.

O King, that personality whom, out of ignorance only, you thought to be your maternal cousin, your very dear friend, well-wisher, counselor, messenger, benefactor, etc., is that very Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.

Lord Sri Krsna, although acting as the cousin, brother, friend, well-wisher, counselor, messenger, benefactor, etc., of the Pandavas, was still the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Out of His causeless mercy and favor upon His unalloyed devotees, He performs all kinds of service, but that does not mean that He has changed His position as the Absolute Person. To think of Him as an ordinary man is the grossest type of ignorance.

SB1.9.21

TEXT 21

sarvatmanah sama-drso

hy advayasyanahankrteh

tat-krtam mati-vaisamyam

niravadyasya na kvacit

sarva-atmanah—of one who is present in everyone’s heart; sama-drsah—of one who is equally kind to one and all; hi—certainly; advayasya—of the Absolute; anahankrteh—free from all material identity of false ego; tat-krtam—everything done by Him; mati—consciousness; vaisamyam—differentiation; niravadyasya—freed from all attachment; na—never; kvacit—at any stage.

Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is present in everyone’s heart. He is equally kind to everyone, and He is free from the false ego of differentiation. Therefore whatever He does is free from material inebriety. He is equibalanced.

Because He is absolute, there is nothing different from Him. He is kaivalya; there is nothing except Himself. Everything and everyone is the manifestation of His energy, and thus He is present everywhere by His energy, being nondifferent from it. The sun is identified with every inch of the sun rays and every molecular particle of the rays. Similarly, the Lord is distributed by His different energies. He is Paramatma, or the Supersoul, present in everyone as the supreme guidance, and therefore He is already the chariot driver and counsel of all living beings. When He, therefore, exhibits Himself as chariot driver of Arjuna, there is no change in His exalted position. It is the power of devotional service only that demonstrates Him as the chariot driver or the messenger. Since He has nothing to do with the material conception of life because He is absolute spiritual identity, there is for Him no superior or inferior action. Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He has no false ego, and so He does not identify Himself with anything different from Him. The material conception of ego is equibalanced in Him. He does not feel, therefore, inferior by becoming the chariot driver of His pure devotee. It is the glory of the pure devotee that only he can bring about service from the affectionate Lord.

SB1.9.22

TEXT 22

tathapy ekanta-bhaktesu

pasya bhupanukampitam

yan me ’sums tyajatah saksat

krsno darsanam agatah

tathapi—still; ekanta—unflinching; bhaktesu—unto the devotees; pasya—see here; bhu-pa—O King; anukampitam—how sympathetic; yat—for which; me—my; asun—life; tyajatah—ending; saksat—directly; krsnah—the Personality of Godhead; darsanam—in my view; agatah—has kindly come.

Yet, despite His being equally kind to everyone, He has graciously come before me while I am ending my life, for I am His unflinching servitor.

The Supreme Lord, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, although equal to everyone, is still more inclined to His unflinching devotee who is completely surrendered and knows no one else as his protector and master. Having unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord as one’s protector, friend and master is the natural condition of eternal life. A living entity is so made by the will of the Almighty that he is most happy when placing himself in a condition of absolute dependence.

The opposite tendency is the cause of falldown. The living entity has this tendency of falling down by dint of misidentifying himself as fully independent to lord it over the material world. The root cause of all troubles is there in false egotism. One must draw towards the Lord in all circumstances.

The appearance of Lord Krsna at the deathbed of Bhismaji is due to his being an unflinching devotee of the Lord. Arjuna had some bodily relation with Krsna because the Lord happened to be his maternal cousin. But Bhisma had no such bodily relation. Therefore the cause of attraction was due to the intimate relation of the soul. Yet because the relation of the body is very pleasing and natural, the Lord is more pleased when He is addressed as the son of Maharaja Nanda, the son of Yasoda, the lover of Radharani. This affinity by bodily relation with the Lord is another feature of reciprocating loving service with the Lord. Bhismadeva is conscious of this sweetness of transcendental humor, and therefore he likes to address the Lord as Vijaya-Sakhe, Partha-Sakhe, etc., exactly like Nanda-nandana or Yasoda-nandana. The best way to establish our relation in transcendental sweetness is to approach Him through His recognized devotees. One should not try to establish the relation directly; there must be a via medium which is transparent and competent to lead us to the right path.

SB1.9.23

TEXT 23

bhaktyavesya mano yasmin

vaca yan-nama kirtayan

tyajan kalevaram yogi

mucyate kama-karmabhih

bhaktya—with devout attention; avesya—meditating; manah—mind; yasmin—in whose; vaca—by words; yat—Krsna; nama—holy name; kirtayan—by chanting; tyajan—quitting; kalevaram—this material body; yogi—the devotee; mucyate—gets release; kama-karmabhih—from fruitive activities.

The Personality of Godhead, who appears in the mind of the devotee by attentive devotion and meditation and by chanting of the holy name, releases the devotee from the bondage of fruitive activities at the time of his quitting the material body.

Yoga means concentration of the mind detached from all other subject matter. And actually such concentration is samadhi, or cent percent engagement in the service of the Lord. And one who concentrates his attention in that manner is called a yogi. Such a yogi devotee of the Lord engages himself twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord so that his whole attention is engrossed with the thoughts of the Lord in ninefold devotional service, namely hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, praying, becoming a voluntary servant, carrying out orders, establishing a friendly relationship, or offering all that one may possess, in the service of the Lord. By such practice of yoga, or linking up in the service of the Lord, one is recognized by the Lord Himself, as it is explained in the Bhagavad-gita concerning the highest perfectional stage of samadhi. The Lord calls such a rare devotee the best amongst all the yogis Such a perfect yogi is enabled by the divine grace of the Lord to concentrate his mind upon the Lord with a perfect sense of consciousness, and thus by chanting His holy name before quitting the body the yogi is at once transferred by the internal energy of the Lord to one of the eternal planets where there is no question of material life and its concomitant factors. In material existence a living being has to endure the material conditions of threefold miseries, life after life, according to his fruitive work. Such material life is produced by material desires only. Devotional service to the Lord does not kill the natural desires of the living being, but they are applied in the right cause of devotional service. This qualifies the desire to be transferred to the spiritual sky. General Bhismadeva is referring to a particular type of yoga called bhakti-yoga, and he was fortunate enough to have the Lord directly in his presence before he quitted his material body. He therefore desired that the Lord stay before his view in the following verses.

SB1.9.24

TEXT 24

sa deva-devo bhagavan pratiksatam

kalevaram yavad idam hinomy aham

prasanna-hasaruna-locanollasan-

mukhambujo dhyana-pathas catur-bhujah

sah—He; deva-devah—the Supreme Lord of the lords; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; pratiksatam—may kindly wait; kalevaram—body; yavat—as long as; idam—this (material body); hinomi—may quit; aham—I; prasanna—cheerful; hasa—smiling; aruna-locana—eyes red like the morning sun; ullasat—beautifully decorated; mukha-ambujah—the lotus flower of His face; dhyana-pathah—in the path of my meditation; catur-bhujah—the four-handed form of Narayana (the worshipable Deity of Bhismadeva).

May my Lord, who is four-handed and whose beautifully decorated lotus face, with eyes as red as the rising sun, is smiling, kindly await me at that moment when I quit this material body.

Bhismadeva knew well that Lord Krsna is the original Narayana. His worshipable Deity was four-handed Narayana, but he knew that four-handed Narayana is a plenary expansion of Lord Krsna. Indirectly he desired Lord Sri Krsna to manifest Himself in His four-handed feature of Narayana. A Vaisnava is always humble in his behavior. Although it was cent percent certain that Bhismadeva was approaching Vaikuntha-dhama just after leaving his material body, still as a humble Vaisnava he desired to see the beautiful face of the Lord, for after quitting the present body he might not be in a position to see the Lord any more. A Vaisnava is not puffed up, although the Lord guarantees His pure devotee entrance into His abode. Here Bhismadeva says, “as long as I do not quit this body.” This means that the great General would quit the body by his own will; he was not being forced by the laws of nature. He was so powerful that he could stay in his body as long as he desired. He got this benediction from his father. He desired that the Lord stay before him in His four-handed Narayana feature so that he might concentrate upon Him and thus be in trance in that meditation. Then his mind might be sanctified with thinking of the Lord. Thus he did not mind wherever he might go. A pure devotee is never very anxious to go back to the kingdom of God. He entirely depends on the good will of the Lord. He is equally satisfied even if the Lord desires him to go to hell. The only desire that a pure devotee entertains is that he may always be in rapt attention with thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord, regardless. Bhismadeva wanted this much only: that his mind be absorbed in thinking of the Lord and that he pass away thus. That is the highest ambition of a pure devotee.

SB1.9.25

TEXT 25

suta uvaca

yudhisthiras tad akarnya

sayanam sara-panjare

aprcchad vividhan dharman

rsinam canusrnvatam

sutah uvaca—Sri Suta Gosvami said; yudhisthirah—King Yudhisthira; tat—that; akarnya—hearing; sayanam—lying down; sara-panjare—on the bed of arrows; aprcchat—asked; vividhan—multifarious; dharman—duties; rsinam—of the rsis; ca—and; anusrnvatam—hearing after.

Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Yudhisthira, after hearing Bhismadeva speak in that appealing tone, asked him, in the presence of all the great rsis, about the essential principles of various religious duties.

Bhismadeva, speaking in that appealing tone, convinced Maharaja Yudhisthira that he was very soon passing away. And Maharaja Yudhisthira was inspired by Lord Sri Krsna to ask him of the principles of religion. Lord Sri Krsna inspired Maharaja Yudhisthira to ask Bhismadeva in the presence of many great sages, indicating thereby that the Lord’s devotee like Bhismadeva, although apparently living as a worldly man, is far superior to many great sages, even Vyasadeva. Another point is that Bhismadeva at that time was not only lying on a deathbed of arrows, but was greatly aggrieved because of that state. One should not have asked him any question at that time, but Lord Sri Krsna wanted to prove that His pure devotees are always sound in body and mind by dint of spiritual enlightenment, and thus in any circumstances a devotee of the Lord is in perfect order to speak of the right way of life. Yudhisthira also preferred to solve his problematic questions by asking Bhismadeva rather than ask anyone else present there who was seemingly more learned than Bhismadeva. This is all due to the arrangement of the great wheel-carrier Lord Sri Krsna, who establishes the glories of His devotee. The father likes to see the son become more famous than himself. The Lord declares very emphatically that worship of His devotee is more valuable than the worship of the Lord Himself.

SB1.9.26

TEXT 26

purusa-sva-bhava-vihitan

yatha-varnam yathasramam

vairagya-ragopadhibhyam

amnatobhaya-laksanan

purusa—the human being; sva-bhava—by his own acquired qualities; vihitan—prescribed; yatha—according to; varnam—classification of castes; yatha—according to; asramam—orders of life; vairagya—detachment; raga—attachment; upadhibhyam—out of such designations; amnata—systematically; ubhaya—both; laksanan—symptoms.

At Maharaja Yudhisthira’s inquiry, Bhismadeva first defined all the classifications of castes and orders of life in terms of the individual’s qualifications. Then he systematically, in twofold divisions, described counteraction by detachment and interaction by attachment.