Canto 1: Creation
SB1.9

Canto 1 · Chapter 9 · 49 verses · 1 story

The Passing Away of Bhīṣmadeva in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa

Bhīṣmadeva instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and fixes his attention on Kṛṣṇa as he prepares to pass away.

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Themes of SB 1.9Kṛpā4Rakṣā4Karuṇā4Bhakti4from its story phase
Connected storiesDhṛtarāṣṭra leaves homeLord ParaśurāmaKaṁsaAtri Muni
Who is speakingSūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaEvery voice in this chapter ›

What this chapter speaks about · the ten subjects

In this chapter

Who · Bhīṣmadeva, Yudhiṣṭhira, Kṛṣṇa, the Pāṇḍavas and assembled sages

The story · Troubled by the deaths on the battlefield, Yudhiṣṭhira went to Bhīṣmadeva, who lay on a bed of arrows about to pass away. Great sages assembled, and the Pāṇḍavas sat nearby with deep affection for their dying grandfather. Bhīṣmadeva explained that no one can fully know Kṛṣṇa’s plan and answered Yudhiṣṭhira’s questions about the duties of life. He then stopped speaking on those subjects, withdrew his mind from everything else, and fixed his attention on Kṛṣṇa. His passing was honored with drums and showers of flowers.

What it teaches · Even great thinkers cannot fully understand the Lord’s plan. Bhīṣmadeva’s final prayers show the goal of fixing the mind upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

SB 1.9.16SB 1.9.30SB 1.9.40Read chapter 9 ›

Beyond this chapter

Connected stories across the Bhāgavatam

Stories told in other chapters that this chapter's verses or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports bring in, the other Bhāgavatam verses the purports quote, and stories in other cantos with the same themes. Each link shows the sentence it comes from.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home

SB 1.13 · Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home

What it teaches · No one in the material world can prevent the approach of time and the decline of the body. Understanding this calls one away from bodily attachment toward spiritual realization.

Although Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the elder uncle of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, was there to look after them, his affection was more on the side of his hundred sons, headed by Duryodhana.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.46 (Text 46)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī, the father and the mother of Duryodhana and his brothers, were the elder uncle and aunt of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.48 (Text 48)
Read the story in SB 1.13

Lord Paraśurāma

SB 9.15–16 · Paraśurāma and the sinful rulers

What it teaches · Jamadagni stresses tolerance and atonement. The account also describes how pride and sinful conduct among rulers brought destruction upon them.

All the sages like Parvata Muni, Nārada, Dhaumya, Vyāsa the incarnation of God, Bṛhadaśva, Bharadvāja and Paraśurāma and disciples, Vasiṣṭha, Indrapramada, Trita, Gṛtsamada, Asita, Kakṣīvān, Gautama, Atri, Kauśika and Sudarśana were present.

He received a presentation of the whole world from Paraśurāma, and later on he asked Paraśurāma to go out of the world.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.8 (Text 8)
Read the story in SB 9.15–16

Kaṁsa

SB 10.1–4 · Kṛṣṇa’s appearanceSB 10.41–44 · Mathurā and the fall of Kaṁsa

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa appears by His own spiritual energy, not as an ordinary conditioned soul. His name, form, and attributes are understood through devotional service.

The pastimes of the Lord, beginning from His birth at the prison house of Kaṁsa up to the mauśala-līlā at the end, all move one after another in all the universes, just as the clock hand moves from one point to another.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.39 (Text 39)

Kaṁsa wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa, and Rāvaṇa wanted to kill Rāma, because foolishly they were unaware of the fact that the Lord is never killed, for the spirit is never annihilated.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.34 (Text 34)
Read the story in SB 10.1–4

Atri Muni

SB 4.1 · Atri Muni receives blessings

What it teaches · The account presents Atri’s control of attachment and sustained austerity, followed by the gracious blessings of the three deities.

Atri Muni was a great brāhmaṇa sage and was one of the mental sons of Brahmājī.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.6-7 (Texts 6-7)
Read the story in SB 4.1

The gopīs and the rāsa dance

SB 10.20–22 · The gopīs’ flute songs and vowSB 10.29–33 · The gopīs’ search and the rāsa danceSB 10.46–47 · Uddhava witnesses Vraja’s love

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa explains that desires fixed upon Him do not produce ordinary material desire for sense gratification. The gopīs’ attention is centered upon Him.

Yet because the relation of the body is very pleasing and natural, the Lord is more pleased when He is addressed as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, the son of Yaśodā, the lover of Rādhārāṇī.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 1.9.22 (Text 22)

Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhāma [the gopīs].

Read the story in SB 10.20–22

Other Bhāgavatam verses Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes here

Same themes in another canto

Both chapters carry these themes strongly in the themes map, an editorial reading of each chapter's story.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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