Verse Text
tatra anugraha-samprāptiḥ, yathā –
kṛṣṇasya paśyata kṛpāṁ kṛpādyāḥ kṛpaṇe mayi |
dhyeyo ’sau nidhane hanta dṛśor adhvānam abhyagāt ||58||
Translation
Attaining mercy: O Kṛpācarya! O brāhmaṇas! See Kṛṣṇa’s mercy to me, the most fallen! Kṛṣṇa, the object of meditation, has appeared to my eyes at the time of my death.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
These are the words of Bhīṣma.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Kṛṣṇa exhibited His causeless mercy when He was present at the departure of Grandfather Bhīṣma. During the Battle of Kurukṣetra, Bhīṣmadeva, the grandfather of Arjuna, was lying on a bed of arrows before departing from this mortal world. When Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and the other Pāṇḍavas approached Bhīṣmadeva, he was very grateful to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and he addressed the brāhmaṇa military commander Kṛpācārya thus: “My dear Kṛpācārya, just see the wonderful causeless mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa! I am most unfortunate. I have no qualification. I was opposing Kṛṣṇa’s most intimate friend, Arjuna—I even tried to kill him! I have so many disqualifications, and yet the Lord is still so kind that He has come to see me at the last point of my life. He is worshipable by all great sages, but still He is so merciful that He has come to see an abominable person like me.”