Text 24
sa deva-devo bhagavān pratīkṣatāṁ
kalevaraṁ yāvad idaṁ hinomy aham
prasanna-hāsāruṇa-locanollasan-
mukhāmbujo dhyāna-pathaś catur-bhujaḥ
saḥ — He; deva-devaḥ — the Supreme Lord of the lords; bhagavān — the Personality of Godhead; pratīkṣatām — may kindly wait; kalevaram — body; yāvat — as long as; idam — this (material body); hinomi — may quit; aham — I; prasanna — cheerful; hāsa — smiling; aruṇa-locana — eyes red like the morning sun; ullasat — beautifully decorated; mukha-ambujaḥ — the lotus flower of His face; dhyāna-pathaḥ — in the path of my meditation; catur-bhujaḥ — the four-handed form of Nārāyaṇa (the worshipable Deity of Bhīṣmadeva).
May my Lord, who is four-handed and whose beautifully decorated lotus face, with eyes as red as the rising sun, is smiling, kindly await me at that moment when I quit this material body.
Bhīṣmadeva knew well that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original Nārāyaṇa. His worshipable Deity was four-handed Nārāyaṇa, but he knew that four-handed Nārāyaṇa is a plenary expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Indirectly he desired Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa to manifest Himself in His four-handed feature of Nārāyaṇa. A Vaiṣṇava is always humble in his behavior. Although it was cent-percent certain that Bhīṣmadeva was approaching Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma just after leaving his material body, still as a humble Vaiṣṇava he desired to see the beautiful face of the Lord, for after quitting the present body he might not be in a position to see the Lord any more. A Vaiṣṇava is not puffed up, although the Lord guarantees His pure devotee entrance into His abode. Here Bhīṣmadeva says “as long as I do not quit this body.” This means that the great general would quit the body by his own will; he was not being forced by the laws of nature. He was so powerful that he could stay in his body as long as he desired. He got this benediction from his father. He desired that the Lord stay before him in His four-handed Nārāyaṇa feature so that he might concentrate upon Him and thus be in trance in that meditation. Then his mind might be sanctified with thinking of the Lord. Thus he did not mind wherever he might go. A pure devotee is never very anxious to go back to the kingdom of God. He entirely depends on the good will of the Lord. He is equally satisfied even if the Lord desires him to go to hell. The only desire that a pure devotee entertains is that he may always be in rapt attention with thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord, regardless. Bhīṣmadeva wanted this much only: that his mind be absorbed in thinking of the Lord and that he pass away thus. That is the highest ambition of a pure devotee.