[Advaita-l] Bhīshma's Advaitic aikya Bhakti - Mahabharata and Bhāgavatam

[V Subrahmanian]

In the Mahabharata, we find this verse in the famous Bhishma Stava Raja, an
exalted hymnal offering to Sri Krishna:

कृष्णव्रताः कृष्णमनुस्मरन्तो

रात्रौ च कृष्णं पुनरुत्थिता ये ।

ते कृष्णदेहाः प्रविशन्ति कृष्णं

आज्यं यथा मन्त्रहुतं हुताशे ॥

– महाभारतं शान्तिपर्व ४७.९३

kṛṣṇavratā: kṛṣṇam-anusṃaranto

ratrau ca kṛṣṇaṃ punarūtthitā ye ।

te kṛṣṇa-dehā: praviśanti kṛṣṇaṃ

ājyaṃ yathā mantra-hutaṃ hutāśe ।।

– Mahābhārataṃ śāntiparva 47.93

Those whose total commitment is like a vow are devoutly remembering
Krishna, who meditate on Krishna, throughout the waking hours and they wake
up with the thought of Krishna. They have replaced their body consciousness
with Krishna consciousness. They enter into Krishna, just as clarified
butter offered with a sacred chant merges into fire.

Merging into Brahman, which involves losing individual identity, is typical
of Advaita. The analogy is apt.

The above tallies with the Bhāgavatam description of Bhishma's departing
words: In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 1st Canto, Chapter 9, Bhishma, in his last
moments, does a stuti of Sri Krishna and finally says:
तमिममहमजं शरीरभाजां
हृदि हृदि धिष्ठितमात्मकल्पितानाम् ।
प्रतिद‍ृशमिव  नैकधार्कमेकं
समधिगतोऽस्मि विधूतभेदमोह: ॥ ४२ ॥

I have realized that Supreme who is present in each and every manas of the
beings which Brahman has created. It is akin to one sun appearing as many
in the various reflecting bodies. So too One Atman alone exists and the
perception of apparent multiplicity is due to* delusion, from which I am
now free*.

The delusion, 'bheda moha', is stated in the Vishnu Purana too:

सर्वभूतान्यभेदेन ददृशे स तदात्मनः ।
यथा ब्रह्मपरो मुक्तिमवाप परमां द्विजः ॥ २,१६.२० ॥
तथा त्वमपि धर्मज्ञ तुल्यात्मरिपुबान्धवः ।
भव सर्गगतं जानन्नात्मानमवनीपते ॥ २,१६.२१ ॥
सितनीलादिभेदेन यथैकं दृश्यते नभः ।
भ्रान्तदृष्टिभिरात्मापि तथैकः सन्पृथक्पृथक् ॥ २,१६.२२ ॥
एकः समस्तं यदिहास्ति किञ्चित्तदच्युतो नास्ति परं ततोन्यत् ।
*सोऽहं स च त्वं च सर्वमेतदात्मस्वरूपं त्यज भेदमोहम् *॥ २,१६.२३ ॥

'Just as that Brahmana attained liberation owing to his perceiving
everything as non-different from the Self, thereby tuned to Brahman, you
too, O King, knower of Dharma, looking upon yourself, enemies and relatives
as the same, knowing the One Atman to be present in all. The wrong
perception of many Atmans is due to delusion, as exemplified in the
space/sky appearing as many owing to the erroneous perception of colors
such as white, black, etc. even though space is one only without any
colors. Whatever exists is only that Supreme Achyuta and nothing else other
than That exists. All perception of duality as 'I am that, you are that, he
is' etc. are all due to  ignorance which you give up.

We may recall the Bhashya of Shankaracharya to the Bh.Gita 2.12 where he
says:  The plural used in the verse to refer to the various entities in the
battle is due to the plurality in the bodies and not due to the plurality
of Atman.  We find validation of Shankara's remark in the Bhagavatam and
the Vishnu Puranam cited above.

न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः ।
न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥ १२ ॥ 2.12.

न तु एव जातु कदाचित् अहं नासम् , किं तु आसमेव । अतीतेषु देहोत्पत्तिविनाशेषु
घटादिषु वियदिव नित्य एव अहमासमित्यभिप्रायः । तथा न त्वं न आसीः, किं तु
आसीरेव । तथा न इमे जनाधिपाः न आसन् , किं तु आसन्नेव । तथा न च एव न
भविष्यामः, किं तु भविष्याम एव, सर्वे वयम् अतः अस्मात् देहविनाशात् परम्
उत्तरकाले अपि । त्रिष्वपि कालेषु नित्या आत्मस्वरूपेण इत्यर्थः ।
देहभेदानुवृत्त्या बहुवचनम् , नात्मभेदाभिप्रायेण ॥ १२ ॥


Om Tat Sat