Bhīshma’s Stuti of Kṛshṇa

At the Rājasūya yajña of Yudhishṭhira, Bhīshma proposed that Kṛshṇa receive the first honour, the agra-pūjā. Śiśupāla objected. When Śiśupāla had gone, Bhīshma, the oldest and most respected person in the assembly, rose again and explained his choice in full.

His answer was not a political defence. It was a declaration of who Kṛshṇa is. The Sabhā Parva gives this speech, and the Dākshiṇātya prati (the southern recension of the text) carries it on into a long account of the avatāras and deeds of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

The setting

On the day of the abhisheka (the consecration) of Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya, Sahadeva moved to offer the arghya (the honour-water) to Kṛshṇa on Bhīshma’s advice. Śiśupāla then rose with his fourteen objections and walked out of the assembly.

After Śiśupāla left, Bhīshma stood to give his reasons. This was no longer a question of who deserved honour at a gathering of kings. It was a question of who Kṛshṇa truly is.

Bhīshma names Kṛshṇa

Bhīshma’s central declaration:

“Kṛshṇa is Nārāyaṇa. He is the Avyakta Prakṛti, the unmanifest ground of all creation. He is the Sanātana Purusha, the eternal Person who stands behind all manifest reality. Every being assembled here, every king, every ṛshi, every deva, exists only because he sustains them at every moment.

“To ask whether he deserves the agra-pūjā in this assembly is to mistake the nature of the occasion. We are not honouring him. We are recognising a fact. The sun does not need our permission to shine; we only lose something by refusing to acknowledge it.

“I have seen the ages roll by. I watched Narasiṃha tear apart Hiraṇyakaśipu. I have heard of Rāma’s deeds from those who walked with him. I am now in the presence of that same being in his fullest and most complete avatāra. My eyes have seen what the ṛshis of a thousand yajñas could only contemplate in meditation.”

Bhīshma went on to list the cosmic nature of Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa is the innermost ātmā (self) of every being. He is the witness of all karma. He is one with Dharma itself. No being, human, divine or otherwise, can be found who surpasses him in any way.

The avatāras and deeds, in the Dākshiṇātya text

In the extended Dākshiṇātya version, Bhīshma’s stuti grows into a full account of Kṛshṇa’s avatāra-history. He offers it as proof of Kṛshṇa’s cosmic identity.

Madhu and Kaiṭabha

This was before creation as we know it, during the cosmic dissolution. Brahmā slept on the lotus, and the asuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha stole the Vedas. Vishṇu arose in his first form, Mahāvishṇu, and killed the two asuras after a fight of five thousand years. The earth is called Medinī because the marrow of their bodies became the substance of the earth.

Varāha avatāra

The earth had sunk into the cosmic waters, and the asura Hiraṇyāksha had carried her into the depths. Vishṇu took the form of the great boar Varāha and dived to the depths. He killed Hiraṇyāksha and lifted the earth on his tusk. The earth was set back in her place.

Narasiṃha avatāra and Hiraṇyakaśipu

The asura Hiraṇyakaśipu performed tapas (austerity) and received varas (boons). By these he could not be killed by man or beast, indoors or outdoors, by day or night, or by any ordinary weapon. He then troubled the whole universe, and above all his own son Prahlāda, who worshipped Vishṇu. Hiraṇyakaśipu’s reign lasted five crore, sixty-one lakh and sixty thousand years.

At the end of that time Vishṇu appeared as Narasiṃha, neither man nor beast. He came at the threshold of Hiraṇyakaśipu’s palace, which is neither indoors nor outdoors, at the sandhi (the meeting point) of day and night. He tore Hiraṇyakaśipu apart with his bare claws. Every vara was kept, and every limit in it was passed.

Vāmana avatāra and Bali

Bali Chakravartī had conquered the three worlds through his great righteousness and generosity. Vishṇu took the form of the dwarf brāhmaṇa Vāmana. He came to Bali’s yajña and asked for three steps of land. Bali’s guru Śukrācārya warned him that it was a trap. But Bali gave his word, as generosity was his nature.

Vāmana grew to cosmic size. In two steps he covered earth and sky, and he placed his third step on Bali’s head. This sent Bali to Pātāla. The three worlds were given back to Indra.

Dattātreya and Kārtavīrya Arjuna

Dattātreya, an avatāra of Vishṇu, became the guru of Kārtavīrya Arjuna and gave him extraordinary powers. The account of their relationship is given in the text.

Paraśurāma

Paraśurāma, the son of Bhṛgu, cleared the earth of kshatriyas twenty-one times at Samantapañchaka, which is Kurukshetra. The text tells the causes and results of his campaigns.

Śrī Rāma avatāra

The text gives a full summary of the Rāmāyaṇa. It covers Rāma’s birth, his schooling, his exile, the abduction of Sītā by Rāvaṇa, the building of the setu (the bridge), the war in Laṅkā, Rāvaṇa’s death, and the return to Ayodhyā. All of it shows the same being, Nārāyaṇa, at work through the Rāma avatāra.

Kṛshṇa’s childhood

Bhīshma’s stuti then turns to Kṛshṇa’s own present avatāra and tells it in detail:

  • Birth in Mathurā, and the carrying of the child to Gokula.
  • Śakaṭāsura vadha: the infant Kṛshṇa overturns the cart-asura.
  • Pūtanā vadha: the killing of Pūtanā, the poison-nurse.
  • Kāliya damana: Kṛshṇa subdues the serpent Kāliya in the Yamunā.
  • The Yamalārjuna trees: the freeing of Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva from Nārada’s śāpa (curse).
  • Dhenukāsura vadha: the killing of the donkey-asura at Tālavana.
  • Govardhana-dhāraṇa: Kṛshṇa lifts Mount Govardhana for seven days against Indra’s anger.
  • Arishṭāsura vadha: the killing of the bull-asura.
  • Keśī vadha: the killing of the horse-asura.
  • Sāndīpani Gurukula: his studies at Avantī under the ṛshi Sāndīpani.
  • The bringing back of Sāndīpani’s dead son from Pāñchajana.
  • The Pāñchajanya śaṅkha (conch), made from the bones of the asura Pāñchajana.
  • Kuvalayāpīḍa vadha: the killing of Kaṃsa’s elephant.
  • Chāṇūra and Mushṭika vadha: the killing of Kaṃsa’s wrestlers.
  • Kaṃsa vadha, and the setting of Ugrasena back on the throne.

Dvārakā and Naraka vadha

The text describes Dvārakā, which is eight yojanas by twelve, with gardens and a palace for each of Kṛshṇa’s eight chief queens. They are Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Jāmbavatī, Sukeśī, Suprabhā, Lakshmaṇā, Mitravindā and Sudattā. It then gives the full account of the killing of Naraka at Prāgjyotisha.

Bāṇāsura and Aniruddha

The text tells of Ushā, the daughter of Bāṇāsura, and of her dream of Aniruddha. Aniruddha was carried away to Śoṇitapura. Kṛshṇa then fought a great war against Śiva at Śoṇitapura, and Aniruddha was set free.

What the stuti means

Bhīshma’s stuti is the Mahābhārata’s own declaration of Kṛshṇa’s supreme place. It comes at the most public moment of the narrative, before all the kings of Bhārata gathered for the Rājasūya. It is spoken by the one person whose spiritual authority no one questions.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 38
  • Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Dākshiṇātya prati sub-chapters of Chapter 38