RALPH UNDER THE PRABHUPADA TREE, TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK, NYC
S.B. Canto 1 Creation Ch.9 The Passing Away of Bhismadeva in the Presence of Lord Krsna Text 11
TEXT
pandu-putran upasinan
prasraya-prema-sangatan
abhyacastanuragasrair
andhibhutena caksusa
SYNONYMS
pandu--the late father of Maharaja Yudhisthira and his brothers; putran--the sons of; upasinan--sitting silently nearby; prasraya--being overtaken; prema--in feelings of love; sangatan--having gathered; abhyacasta--congratulated; anuraga--feelingly; asraih--by tears of ecstasy; andhibhutena--overwhelmed; caksusa--with his eyes.
TRANSLATION
The sons of Maharaja Pandu were sitting silently nearby, overtaken with affection for their dying grandfather. Seeing this, Bhismadeva congratulated them with feeling. There were tears of ecstasy in his eyes, for he was overwhelmed by love and affection.
PURPORT
When Maharaja Pandu died, his sons were all small children, and naturally they were brought up under the affection of elderly members of the royal family, specifically by Bhismadeva. Later on, when the Pandavas were grown up, they were cheated by cunning Duryodhana and company, and Bhismadeva, although he knew that the Pandavas were innocent and were unnecessarily put into trouble, could not take the side of the Pandavas for political reasons. At the last stage of his life, when Bhismadeva saw his most exalted grandsons, headed by Maharaja Yudhisthira, sitting very gently at his side, the great warrior-grandfather could not check his loving tears, which were automatically flowing from his eyes. He remembered the great tribulations suffered by his most pious grandsons. Certainly he was the most satisfied man because of Yudhisthira's being enthroned in place of Duryodhana, and thus he began to congratulate them.