Text 34] Bhisma’s Passing Away 485

the skin; vilasat—enjoying pleasure; kavace—protecting armor; astu--let
there be; rsnah—unto Sri Krsna; dtma—mind.

TRANSLATION

On the battlefield [where Sri Krsna attended Arjuna out of friendship],
the flowing hair of Lord Krsna 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 Sri Krsna.

PURPORT

The Lord is the absolute form of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As such,
transcendental loving service of the Lord in one of the five principal
relations, namely, santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya2 and madhurya, i.-e.,
neutrality, servitorship, fraternity, filial affection and conjugal love, is
graciously accepted by the Lord when offered to the Lord in genuine love
and affection. ce Bhismadeva is a great devotee of the Lord in the relation
of servitorship. Thus his throwing of sharp arrows at the transcendental
body of the Lord is as good as the worship of another devotee who throws
soft roses upon Him.

It appears that Bhismadeva is repenting his actions, which he committed
against the person of the Lord. But factually the Lord’s body was not at all
pained due to His transcendental existence. His body is not matter. Both
He Himself and His body are complete spiritual identity. Spirit is never
pierced, burnt, dried, moistened, etc. This is vividly explained in the
Bhagavad-gita. So also it is stated in-the Skanda Purana. It is said there
that spirit is always uncontamtnated and indestructible. It cannot be
distressed, nor can it be dried up. When Lord Visnu in His incarnation
appears before us, He seems to be like one of the conditioned souls
materially encaged just to bewilder the asuras, or the nonbelievers, who are
always alert to kill the Lord, even from the very beginning of His appear-
ance. Kamsa wanted to kill Krsna, and Ravana wanted to kill Rama, be-
cause foolishly they were unaware of the fact that the Lord is never killed,
for the spirit is never annihilated.

Therefore Bhismadeva’s piercing of the body of Lord Krsna is a sort of
bewildering problem for the nondevotee atheist, but those who are devo-
tees or those who are liberated souls are not bewildered.
