KRSNA CONFRONTS BHISMA IN BATTLE
Painting by
Pariksit Dasa
(1983)


As Bhismadeva lay on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, mortally wounded, he remembered Krsna's pastimes there and prayed as follows:

"Sri Krsna is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in His transcendental body, colored bluish like a tamala tree. His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems. May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire fruitive results.

"On the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, where Sri Krsna attended Arjuna out of friendship, the Lord's flowing hair turned ashen due to the dust raised by the horses' hoofs. 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.

"In obedience to the command of His friend Arjuna, Lord Sri Krsna drove the chariot between the two armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His merciful glance. Let my mind be fixed upon that Krsna.

"When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and the commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by delivering transcendental knowledge in the form of Bhagavad-gita. May His lotus feet always remain the object of my attraction.

"Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran toward me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.

"May Lord Sri Krsna be my ultimate destination. He charged me on the battlefield, as if angry because of the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered and His body smeared with blood due to the wounds.

"At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon that chariot driver of Arjuna, who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, and who was careful to give protection to Arjuna's chariot by all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra attained their original forms after death."


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