“Vaisampayana said, ’Hearing those words of Vasudeva of great intelligence, Bhishma, raising his head a little, said these words with joined hands.’

“Bhishma said, ’Salutations to thee, O divine Krishna!  Thou art the origin and thou art the dissolution of all the worlds.  Thou art the Creator and thou art the Destroyer.  Thou, O Hrishikesa, art incapable of being vanquished by any one.  The universe is the handiwork.  Thou art the soul of the universe and the universe hath sprung from thee.  Salutations to thee!  Thou art the end of all created things.  Thou art above the five elements.  Salutations to thee that art the three worlds and that art again above the three worlds.  O lord of Yogins, salutations to thee that art the refuge of everything.  O foremost of beings, those words which thou hast said regarding me have enabled me to behold thy divine attributes as manifest in the three worlds. (In consequence of that kindness), O Govinda, I also behold thy eternal form.  Thou standest shutting up the seven paths of the Wind possessed of immeasurable energy.  The firmament is occupied by thy head, and the earth by thy feet.  The points of the compass are thy two arms, and the Sun is thy eye, and Sakra constitutes thy prowess.  O thou of unfading glory, thy Person, attired in yellow robes that resemble the hue of the Atasi flower, seem to us to be like a cloud charged with flashing of lightning.  Think of that, O best of gods, which would be good, O thou of lotus eyes, for my humble self, that am devoted to thee, that seek thy protection, and that am desirous of obtaining a blissful end.’

“Vasudeva said, ’Since, O bull among men, thy devotion to me is very great, for this, O prince, I have displayed my celestial form to thee.  I do not, O foremost of kings, display myself unto one that is not devoted to me, or unto a devotee that is not sincere, or unto one, O Bharata, that is not of restrained soul.  Thou art devoted to me and art always observant of righteousness.  Of a pure heart, thou art always self-restrained and ever observant of penances and gifts.  Through thy own penances, O Bhishma, thou art competent to behold me.  Those regions, O king, are ready for thee whence there is no return.[156] Six and fifty days, O foremost one of Kuru’s race, still remain for thee to live!  Casting off thy body, thou shalt then, O Bhishma, obtain the blessed reward of thy acts.  Behold, those deities and the Vasus, all endued with forms of fiery splendour, riding on their cars, are waiting for thee invisibly till the moment of the sun’s entering on northerly course.  Subject to universal time, when the divine Surya turns to his northerly course, thou, O foremost of men, shalt go to those regions whence no man of knowledge ever returns to this earth!  When thou, O Bhishma, wilt leave this world for that, all Knowledge, O hero, will expire with thee.  It is for this, that all these persons, assembled together, have approached thee for listening to discourses on duty and morality.  Do thou then speak words of truth, fraught with morality and Yoga, unto Yudhishthira who as firm in truth but whose learning has been clouded by grief on account of the slaughter of his kinsmen, and do thou, by this, quickly dispel that grief of his!’