Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 1 Chapter 9:32-39

Book 1: Chapter 9

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 1: Chapter 9: Verses 32-39 Yudhisthira and others call on Bhisma and the latter drops his mortal coil, extolling Sri Krsna Bhisma said : Now on the eve of my departure (from this mortal world) I offer my mind, which is free from all thirst (for worldly enjoyment), to the supreme Lord, Sri Krsna (the foremost of the Yadus), who, while retaining His own blissful character all along, sometimes assumes His own Prakrti (Maya) in order to carry on His sport, from which flows the stream of creation. May I cherish motiveless love for Sri Krsna, the friend of Vijaya (Arjuna), who has assumed a personality charming to the three worlds and dark as the Tamala tree, and is clad in excellent robes, brilliant as the rays of the sun, and whose lotus-like countenance has curly locks floating about it. May my mind, body and soul rest in Sri Krsna, whose face is hemmed all round by flowing hair soiled with the dust raised by the horses' hoofs on the battle-field and is bedecked with drops of perspiration, and whose skin is being pierced by my sharp arrows, though protected with a shining armour. May I develop love for the friend of Prtha's son (Arjuna), who at the request of His friend immediately drove and placed his chariot in the middle of the Pandava and the Kaurava hosts and, planting Himself there, cut short the life of the hostile warriors by His very looks. May I be blessed with devotion to the feet of that Supreme Being who by imparting spiritual knowledge (in the form of the Gita) dispelled the (temporary) delusion of His friend, who on seeing us (generals of the Kaurava forces) at the van of the hostile army arrayed at a distance felt disinclined to kill his own kith and kin because he regarded it a sin. Breaking His own vow (not to take up arms during the Mahabharata war), to fulfil and exalt my vow (of compelling Him to take up arms), Sri Krsna jumped down from the car on which He had taken His seat and, like a lion that pounces upon an elephant to kill him, darted towards me with a wheel of His chariot in His hand, the earth trembling under His feet and His upper garment dropping behind Him. Hit with the piercing arrows of a desperado like me and bathed in blood, and with His armour broken, He who rushed forth to kill me, disregarding the remonstrances of Arjuna-may that Lord Mukunda (the Bestower of blessedness) be my asylum. May I in my last moments develop love for the Lord who, having taken upon Himself the responsibility to protect the chariot of Vijaya (Arjuna), took the charioteer's whip in one hand and held the horses' reins in another and looked most attractive in that charming role, witnessing which (at their last moment) they who fell on this battle-field attained a form similar to His (or Sarupya-Mukti as the scriptures call it).