Text 44] Bhisma’s Passing Away 501
the glories of the Lord, and by His sight he began to see the Lord person-
ally present before him, and thus all his activities became concentrated
upon the Lord without deviation. This is the highest stage of perfection,
and it is possible for everyone to attain this stage by practice of devo-
tional service. The devotional service of the Lord consists of nine princi-
ples of service activities, and they are |) hearing. 2) chanting. 3) remem-
bering. 4) serving the lotus feet, 5) worshiping. 6) praying. 7) executing
the orders, 8) fraternizing, and 9) fully surrendering. Any one of them or
all of them are equally competent to award the desired result, but they
require to be practiced persistently under the guidance of an expert
devotee of the Lord. The first item, hearing, is the most important item
of all, and therefore hearing of the Bhagavad-gita and, later on. Srimad-
Bhagavatam is essential for the serious candidate who wants to attain the
stage of Bhismadeva at the end. The unique situation at Bhismadeva’s
time of deathcan be attained, even though Lord Krsna may not be person-
ally present. His words of the Bhagavad-gita or those of Srimad-Bhagavatam
are identical with the Lord. They are sound incarnations of the Lord, and
one can fully utilize them to be entitled to attain the stage of Sri Bhisma-
deva, who was one of the eight Vasus. Every man or animal must die at a
certain stage of life. but one who dies like Bhismadeva attains perfection,
and one who dies forced by the laws of nature dies like an animal. That is
the difference between a man and an animal, and the human form of life
is especially meant for dying like Bhismadeva.
TEXT 44
STATA Ase Tete FAS |
~ ne e
aa TRA Tot aia ares ive
sampadyamanam ajiiaya
bhismam brahmani niskale
sarve babhiivus te tiisnim
vayamsiva dinatyaye
sampad yamanam—having merged into; ajma@ya—after knowing this;

bhismam—about Sri Bhismadeva; brahmani—into the Supreme Absolute;
niskale—unlimited; sarve—all present; babhiivuh te—all of them became;
tisnim—silent; vayamsi iva—like the birds; dina-atyaye—at the end of the
day.
