Bhismadeva was defeated by Arjuna and Srikandi during the 10th day of the battle of Kuruksetra. Dozens of arrows transpassed his body, but he landed in such a way that the arrows supported the weight of his body, and he didn’t touch the ground. It looked like he was lying on a bed of arrows. Later, at his request, Arjuna added three arrows under his head, that served as a pillow.

Any regular person would die instantly in this situation, but because Bhismadeva had the blessing he would not die until the time he had chosen, he remained alive and conscious. He was waiting for an auspicious moment to leave his body.

The news that the great Bhismadeva was preparing to leave his body quickly spread, and many great sages and other important personalities came to pay him their respects, including Vyasadeva and Sukadeva Goswami. It’s mentioned that “all the great souls in the universe, namely the ṛṣis amongst the demigods, brāhmaṇas, and kings, all situated in the quality of goodness, were assembled there.”

Chronologically speaking, these events happened around the time of the birth of Pariksit Maharaja, many years before Sukadeva Goswami spoke the Srimad Bhagavatam to him.

Maharaja Yudhisthira was mortified by the results of the battle of Kuruksetra, shocked by the carnage and fearing the karmic repercussions of it. Krsna Himself tried to give him instructions in this regard, but the lamentation persisted. One could question how is it so since Krsna is the ultimate authority and Yudhisthira should have been able to accept His words. The answer was that there was a superior plan. Krsna wanted to pay a visit to Bhismadeva and be with him at the crucial moment he was leaving this world.

Seeing Bhismadeva, all the Pandavas offered him obeisances. With the appearance of Krsna in the scene, even more great personalities joined the assembly, like Kaśyapa, Āṅgirasa, and their many disciples. It’s described that Bhismadeva was shining in the middle of this assembly, just like a demigod who had fallen from the sky.

Due to his situation, Bhismadeva was not capable of offering them a proper reception, but he still satisfied them with sweet words, smiles, and so on. In this way, all the great personalities who had come to see him were fully satisfied with his welcome.

It’s difficult for us to conceive how emotional was the meetings of Bhismadeva, Krsna, and the Pandavas. It’s described that the Pandavas sat silently, overwhelmed by feelings of affection for their grandfather, while Bhismadeva shed tears of love in seeing that the Pandavas, after all tribulations, were finally well situated.

” Bhīṣmadeva said: Oh, what terrible sufferings and what terrible injustices you good souls suffer for being the sons of religion personified. You did not deserve to remain alive under those tribulations, yet you were protected by the brāhmaṇas, God and religion.” (SB 1.9.12)

With these words, Bhismadeva emphasized that the events of the battle of Kuruksetra were not the fault of the Pandavas, since they were just victims of injustice, and the battle was the result of a superior arrangement to correct such injustices.

Krsna wanted to use the Pandavas as an example of how determined one must be on the path of virtue, not deviating from religious and devotional principles even when facing the greatest calamities, and how by following this path one eventually becomes victorious. No common person could survive the tests the Pandavas went through, therefore, just as only an advanced student can pass the hardest exams, the role had to be performed by the greatest devotees.

What should Maharaja Yudhisthira do now that the battle is concluded? This whole passage started because Krsna wanted him to find a solution to this question. This was answered by Bhismadeva next:

“O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhiṣṭhira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.”

Having explained the point about the sufferings of the Pandavas and given instructions to Maharaja Yudhisthira on what to do next, Bhismadeva continues by describing some of Krsna’s glories.

Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the first Narayana, the source of all incarnations. This is clearly shown in the pastime of Lord Brahma stealing the cowherd boys and calves that is described in the 10th canto. Krsna expanded Himself into innumerable Vishnu forms, taking the forms of all the boys and calves Brahma had stolen, and just continued playing His pastimes as if nothing had happened. When Brahma returned, after one year, Krsna revealed that each of these Vishnu forms had his own universe, complete with his own Brahma and Shiva. All these Vishnu forms and their respective universes were situated around Krsna!

The same Krsna played the role of a subordinate to the Pandavas, serving as a messenger to Maharaja Yudhisthira, as a chariot driver to Arjuna, and so on. Out of His causeless mercy and love for His pure devotees, Krsna can play any role and perform all kinds of services, but this doesn’t change His position as the Supreme.

Bhismadeva has a chivalrous relationship with Krsna. This was shown during the battle of Kuruksetra when he desired to make the Lord pick weapons and fight with Him. Now, in the final part of His life, Bhismadeva is preparing to leave his body in the most auspicious moment, in the presence of Krsna and His pure devotees. Although Bhismadeva could continue living if he wanted, he decided to abandon his body at this auspicious moment and go back to Godhead. This shows us that a long life is not very important, what is essential is to leave our bodies in a situation where we are surrounded by devotees and can remember Krsna.

Before passing away, Bhismadeva gave extensive instructions to Maharaja Yudhisthira about occupational duties and other topics. These discussions are described in the Bhisma Parva section of the Mahabharata, but are mentioned only briefly in the Bhagavatam:

“Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, after hearing Bhīṣmadeva speak in that appealing tone, asked him, in the presence of all the great ṛṣis, about the essential principles of various religious duties.
At Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry, Bhīṣmadeva first defined all the classifications of castes and orders of life in terms of the individual’s qualifications. Then he systematically, in twofold divisions, described counteraction by detachment and interaction by attachment.
He then explained, by divisions, acts of charity, the pragmatic activities of a king and activities for salvation. Then he described the duties of women and devotees, both briefly and extensively.
Then he described the occupational duties of different orders and statuses of life, citing instances from history, for he was himself well acquainted with the truth.
While Bhīṣmadeva was describing occupational duties, the sun’s course ran into the northern hemisphere. This period is desired by mystics who die at their will.” (SB 1.9.25-29)

Bhismadeva spoke on all these topics in the most difficult situation, on his deathbed, with his body pierced all over by arrows. This happened by the will of Krsna, who wanted to use the situation to increase the glory of His devotee. However, after concluding these topics, according to the desire of the Lord, Bhismadeva completely focused his attention on the Lord as Partha-Sarati, the driver of Arjuna’s chariot, with the reins and the whip in his hands. At this moment he felt more fortunate than Arjuna because being seated in the chariot Arjuna could see just the back of the Lord, while he could see the Lord from the front and thus appreciate his beauty fully.

This is also a lesson for us. During our lives, we may perform many different activities, but at the time of death, we should be capable of focusing our attention exclusively on Krsna. The best way to guarantee that is to practice during our lives. If we are able to always remember Krsna during our lives, we will be surely able to also remember Him at the time of death, and this thought will bring us back to the spiritual world. We should thus learn to connect the different activities we perform in our daily lives with Krsna, as He teaches in the Bhagavad-Gita.

Two especially beautiful verses are 1.9.30 and 31, which describe the glory of Bhismadeva while leaving his body:

“Thereupon that man who spoke on different subjects with thousands of meanings, and who fought on thousands of battlefields and protected thousands of men, stopped speaking and, being completely freed from all bondage, withdrew his mind from everything else and fixed his wide-open eyes upon the original Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who stood before him, four-handed, dressed in yellow garments that glittered and shined.
By pure meditation, looking at Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he at once was freed from all material inauspiciousness and was relieved of all bodily pains caused by the arrow wounds. Thus all the external activities of his senses at once stopped, and he prayed transcendentally to the controller of all living beings while quitting his material body.”

When Bhismadeva finally returned home, back to Godhead, all the great personalities present first became silent for some time, offering their last respects to the great soul, and then sounded drums in honor. Even the demigods participated by offering flowers that fell from the sky. After performing the funeral rites and glorifying Krsna, Who was personally present, all the great sages returned to their respective hermitages.