In the fourth month of his austere practice, on each twelfth day, the prince survived on nothing but air. Having conquered his breath, he sustained unwavering meditation upon the Lord. By the time the fifth month arrived, he had fully mastered his breath. Standing resolutely on one leg, he fixed his mind on the Absolute, unmoving as a pillar. Withdrawing his mind from all distractions and fixing it in his heart—the seat of the elements and senses—he meditated solely on the form of the Lord, perceiving nothing else. As he thus sustained the Supreme, the Lord of primordial matter and the great elements, the very support of all existence, the three worlds themselves began to tremble. When that royal boy stood on one foot, the earth, pressed by his big toe, bent wherever he stood, much like a platform gives way beneath the weight of an elephant. Deep in meditation on the Self of the universe, with his senses closed and his concentration unwavering, the worlds and their guardians found themselves oppressed and breathless. In their distress, they sought refuge in Hari. The gods addressed the Lord: “O Lord, never have we seen such restraint of life-breath among all beings, moving or unmoving, whose true abode is You. Please relieve us from this suffering; we have come to You, the ultimate refuge.” The Blessed Lord replied, “Do not fear. I will cause the boy to desist from this arduous austerity. Return to your realms. It is only because of his union with Me that your breath was restrained, O sons of Uttānapāda.” Meanwhile, Sūta continued: Out of concern for the welfare of his subjects and a deep desire to understand the full measure of righteousness, Yudhiṣṭhira set out to visit the place where Devavrata, renowned as Bhīṣma, lay. At that time, all his brothers, resplendent in chariots with horses adorned in gold, accompanied him, as did the sages Vyāsa, Dhaumya, and others. The Blessed Lord Himself, accompanied by Dhanañjaya, rode in a chariot as well. Among them, the king shone brilliantly, like Kubera among the Yakṣas. When the Pāṇḍavas, along with their followers and the wielder of the discus, beheld Bhīṣma fallen upon the earth—like a god fallen from heaven—they bowed to him in reverence. Gathered there were all the great sages among the Brahmanas, the foremost of divine and royal sages, who had come to see the chief of the Bharatas. Parvata, Nārada, Dhaumya, the venerable Badarāyaṇa, Brihadasva, Bharadvāja with his disciples, and the son of Reṇukā were present. Vasishtha, Indrapramada, Trita, Gritsamada, Asita, Kakṣīvan, Gautama, Atri, Kauśika, and Sudarśana were also among the assembly. Other pure-hearted sages, such as Brahmarāta and others, arrived with their disciples—Kāśyapa, Angiras, and many more. Perceiving the gathering of these most fortunate souls, the best of the Vasus—Bhīṣma, who knew righteousness and the proper distinctions of place and time—honored them all. He also worshipped Krishna, who, though seated among them, was the Lord of the universe, present in every heart, having assumed a form through His own divine power. Bhīṣma then addressed the sons of Pāṇḍu, who sat before him with humility and affection, their eyes blinded by tears of deep attachment. He spoke: “Alas, how grievous, how unjust it is that you, O sons of Dharma, devoted to the Brahmanas, to righteousness, and to Acyuta, should suffer or live in distress. With the great warrior Pāṇḍu gone, Kuntī, left as a widow with young children, has endured countless hardships for your sake, time and again, as a mother would for her child. “I see all your adversity as the work of time; the world and its rulers are all under its sway, just as clouds are driven by the wind. How can there be adversity for you, where the son of Dharma is king, Bhīma wields the mace, Arjuna holds the Gandiva bow, and Krishna is your friend? O King, no one truly knows His intentions; even those wise in inquiry are bewildered by Him. “Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, understand this as the arrangement of destiny. As it has been ordained, O protectorless one, you must protect the people as their lord. This indeed is Bhagavān Himself, the original Nārāyaṇa, who, hiding among the Vrishnis, moves about, bewildering the world with His māyā. His most secret power is known only to Bhagavān Shiva, the divine sage Nārada, and Bhagavān Kapila. “He whom you consider your maternal cousin, dear friend, best well-wisher, whom you made your minister, messenger, and charioteer out of affection—He is the soul of all, seeing all equally, nondual and free from ego. There is never any fault in the differences He causes in people’s minds. Yet, O King, behold His compassion for those with exclusive devotion: as I am about to leave this world, Krishna Himself stands before me. “The yogi who, with devotion, fixes his mind upon Him and utters His name with his voice, is freed from desires and actions when he leaves his body. May that Lord of gods, Bhagavān, remain until I relinquish this body—He, with a smiling face, reddish eyes, radiant lotus-like countenance, and four arms, stands before me, the very path of my meditation.” Sūta continued: Hearing these words, Yudhiṣṭhira questioned Bhīṣma, who lay upon his bed of arrows, about the various duties of life, as the sages listened with keen attention. He inquired about the duties prescribed for people according to their nature, class, and stage of life, and about the qualities of both detachment and attachment as taught in the scriptures. He asked, in both summary and detail, about the duties of charity, kingship, liberation, women, and devotion to God, as well as their divisions and yogic aspects. The sage, knowing the truth, described to him the aims of dharma, wealth, desire, and liberation, along with their means, drawing from various stories and histories. As he was expounding on dharma, that auspicious time arrived—the time longed for by yogis who wish to depart at will, the sacred northern course. Then, Bhīṣma withdrew his speech, which had flowed like a thousand streams, and fixed his mind—now free from all attachments—upon the Primeval Person: upon Krishna, shining in yellow garments, four-armed, standing before him with unblinking eyes. With pure concentration, all inauspiciousness destroyed, and the fatigue of battle gone just by beholding Him, with all the activities of his senses ceased, Bhīṣma praised Janārdana, the creator, as he prepared to depart. Bhīṣma said: “Thus, my mind, freed from all thirst, is established in the Lord, the foremost of the Sātvatas, the all-pervading one, who, having attained His own bliss, sometimes enters into this world of nature, from which the flow of birth arises.