Text 1
sūta uvāca
iti bhītaḥ prajā-drohāt
sarva-dharma-vivitsayā
tato vinaśanaṁ prāgād
yatra deva-vrato ’patat
sūtaḥ uvāca — Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said; iti — thus; bhītaḥ — being afraid of; prajā-drohāt — because of killing the subjects; sarva — all; dharma — acts of religion; vivitsayā — for understanding; tataḥ — thereafter; vinaśanam — the place where the fight was held; prāgāt — he went; yatra — where; deva-vrataḥ — Bhīṣmadeva; apatat — lay down for passing away.
Sūta Gosvāmī said: Being afraid for having killed so many subjects on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira went to the scene of the massacre. There, Bhīṣmadeva was lying on a bed of arrows, about to pass away.
In this Ninth Chapter, as it is willed by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Bhīṣmadeva will impart instructions to King Yudhiṣṭhira on the subject of occupational duties. Bhīṣmadeva will also offer his last prayer to the Lord on the verge of passing away from this mortal world and thus become liberated from the bondage of further material engagements. Bhīṣmadeva was endowed with the power of leaving his material body at will, and his lying down on the bed of arrows was his own choice. This passing away of the great warrior attracted the attention of all the contemporary elites, and all of them assembled there to show their feelings of love, respect and affection for the great soul.