478 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 9

tada—at_ that time; upasamhytya—withdrawing: girah—speeches:
sahasranih—Bhismadeva (expert in thousands of sciences and arts):
vimukta-sangam—completely freed from everything else; manah— mind:
ddi-piruse—unto the original Personality of Godhead: krsne—unto Krsna:
lasat-pita-pate—decorated with vellow garments: catur- bhuje—unto four-
handed original Narayana: purah—just before; sthite—standing by; amilita
—widespread: drk—vision; vyadhG@rayat—fixed.

TRANSLATION

Thereupon that man who spoke on different subjects with thousands of
meanings and who fought on thousands of battlefields and protected
thousands of men, stopped speaking, and being completely freed from all
bondage, withdrew his mind from everything else and fixed his wide-open
eyes upon the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna who stood before him,
four-handed, dressed in yellow garments that glittered and shined.

PURPORT

In the momentous hour of leaving this material body the glorious
example set by Bhismadeva is the important function of the human form
of life. The subject matter which attracts the dying man becomes the
beginning of his next life. If, therefore, one is absorbed in the thoughts of
the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, he is sure to go back to Godhead without any
doubt. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 8.5-15):

5: And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me
alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.

6: Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that
state he will attain without fail.

7: Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of
Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting.
With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed
on Me, vou will attain Me without doubt.

8: He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind
constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O
Partha [ Arjuna], is sure to reach Me.

9: One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows
everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller
than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all
material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He
is luminous like the sun and, being transcendental, is beyond this material
nature.
