ARROWS of LOVE

SD 1.9.38 "O Krishna! Let my only goal be Mukunda, Who, afflicted by my sharp arrows, armor broken, covered in blood, rushed towards me, His enemy, with great force, in order to kill me."

As much as this pastime of Krishna and Bhismadeva is meant to bewilder the mundane minds, it gives great ecstasy and inspiration to the devotees. This poem has been inspired by the prism of rasas in the pages of the Bhagavatam, which, just like those that speak of Arjuna, also expose the devotional sentiments of Bhismadeva. Here he drops the 'adherent-to-dharma' character of the Mahabharata and reveals himself as a pure devotee in a mix of service and chivalry rasas.

This is the moment that Krishna makes Bhismadeva's greatness, glories and devotion known to the world by coming to his side : -

BRS 2.1.134 [Krishna] "...because of Bhisma's remembrance of Him while laying on the bed of sharp arrows, immediately appeared, beyond His own control. He rushed towards Bhisma while forgetting His position as God, His body bathed in a shower of tears." 

Such were the feelings of Krishna for Bhisma, and since Krishna's sense of justice dictates that great personalities cannot leave the world in disgrace, (Bhismadev was fighting in favor of the Kalik Duryodhana), so Krishna makes sure that Bhisma is recognized for his devotion, bhakti, because bhakti is the only parameter by which one can value a Vaisnava. 

Bhisma, after giving his instructions to the inquisitive Yudhisthira about dharma being the last duty to absolve in this body, is ready to depart as it is the right astrological time. In the Bhagavatam story, when Bhisma starts to speak to Krishna he sees Him as having a four-armed form. But in the following verse, Bhisma, entering into a deep state of consciousness  through meditation, starts to remember Krishna as the friend and charioteer of Arjun. In fact, the sloka says that he separated from his body.

So, in the poem, in order to mark this transition from the external to internal consciousness which reveals the feelings of Bhismadeva, in the first part Bhisma speaks to Krishna, but from thereon, since Bhisma is then seeing Krishna in the form that he most cherishes in his heart as Arjun's charioteer, he speaks about Krishna, being fully absorbed in smarana.

Now,

that the skies and I                                        ⁽¹⁾

are ready for this life

to wind up,

You have come,

and my bed of arrows

has become petals.

I am finally free

of joy and pain,

from the oath and fatigue;                              ⁽²⁾

in the baggage of this life journey

only these thoughts remain

to offer to you,

since my innermost desire

stands at last

in front of my eyes,

even though my mind is absorbed

in beholding the charioteer of Arjun.                   ⁽³⁾

At last let me plunge

into the waves of love

endlessly welling in my heart                          ⁽⁴⁾

at the vision of Him, whom I've seen

riding in the front seat

of the chariot of Arjun,                                    ⁽⁵⁾

in His hands the reins and the whip,

in a fiery mood

shrouded by the sheen of His armor,

with fire-yellow clothes flapping

like flags of ardor,

His hair flowing,

lashed by the speed of the wind,

frowning in concentration,

his face enflamed

by the effort, the strain, the perspiration,

vigorous, prompt, tenacious

as the driver of Arjun,                                             ⁽⁶⁾

a comfort to my heavy heart

seeing His glance liberating everyone,

as no one in His presence could ever be hurt.          ⁽⁷⁾

And I attacked,

aroused by my chivalrous heart,                              ⁽⁸⁾

armed with my soul's desire

for the sweetness of that fight;

the sun, red-blazing the sky

reflected in His angered eyes

under a rain of arrows,

as He gave up His futile oath,

fulfilling my vow and His vow of love,

and glorious, enraged, got off

in defense of His friend,                                           ⁽⁹⁾

and with an irate wave, got rid

of his shining upper cloth,

leaping towards me, hurling a wheel,

furious, forceful and fierce,

his locks ashen with dust

sticky, auburn, matted, hot,

His armor dented, scarlet with blood

from the wounds I had inflicted,

worn as ruby marks of love,

His skin wetted, sweated, reddened

under the strain

of the fortuitous weapon;

in awe, I was astounded, struck,

dropped my bow and my arms,

while the taste buds of my heart

relished each instant of that run.

Suddenly there was nothing else...                      ⁽¹⁰⁾

that form of sweetness never left me,

became the reason of my life

and now ~ to die;                                                ⁽¹¹⁾

Many other lives will come

no matter the role to be enacted,

dharma does not last,

my existence is only meant

for the arrows of love that I shoot

to serve the charioteer of Arjun.

(1) SD 1.9.29 "The time uttarayana, which was desired by Bhisma, who had finished speaking on dharma and could die when he chose, then arrived."  Uttarayana is the auspicious time for the yogi to depart, as per BG 8.24, when the sun travels on the Northern path of the celestial orbit. Bhisma, endowed with the power of choosing his time of death, waited for this specific astral time. 

(2) SD 1.9.30 "At that time, withdrawing his words from other subjects, with eyes wide open, Bhisma, [...] concentrated himself, free of all material attachment, upon Krishna, the original person, dressed in shining yellow garments, with four arms, standing before him."   

Free of material attachment means free of dualities. This reveals the liberated state of Bhisma, now also free of his oath and the fatigue of fighting. There is no rebirth for one who does not have a subtle body. In fact, in the next sloka (ref.3), by stating that Bhisma has already left his body before starting to speak, it is hinting that his subtle body had already dissolved.
SD 3.25.33 "Bhakti, devotional service, dissolves the subtle body of the living entity without separate effort, just as fire in the stomach digests all that we eat."

(3) SD 1.9.31 "As Bhisma, free of all inauspiciousness by his pure concentration, free of physical fatigue from fighting and free of wandering senses by Krishna's glance of mercy, left his body, he began to praise Krishna." 

Leaving the body in this sloka marks the passage from external consciousness to internal consciousness. In fact Bhisma will now start to speak in pure bhakti, his mind absorbed in the form of Krishna and fully relishing his rasa.

(4) SD 1.9.34 "May my mind concentrate on Krishna, Whose face was decorated with hair covered with the dust raised by horses ..."  In this second part of the poem Bhisma is remembering Krishna as he saw him on the battlefield of Kurukshetra - the vision that has conquered and stormed his heart with love. 

(5) SD 1.9.35 "May I have prema for the chariot driver of Arjun ..." Bhisma was blissful to have been able to see Krsna all the time directly in front of his eyes. In this stanza the poet notes that Krishna was on the front seat with his back to Arjun, so even Arjun was unable to see Him from this point of view. Then follows the description of this vision and all the details that arouse the sentiment and rasa of  Bhisma's chivalrous heart.

(6) This description reveals the unique sentiment of the devotee who understands the greatness of the Lord, and by seeing Him engaged in all sorts of human activities, reciprocating in wonderful ways with His devotee, is captured by ecstatic love. This is one aspect of the descent of the Lord - the joy that He gives to His devotees, while at the same time bewildering the demons who continue to perceive Him as an ordinary human being.

SD 1.12.11 "The Lord maintaining His reputation of being affectionate to His devotees, inconceivable in form, and also a thief..."

The Lord, in whatever form He manifests for His devotees, always, amongst the qualities that he displays, shows himself as being a thief, since He enters the devotee's mind and steals it.

(7) SD 3.2.20 "Others, the best among warriors, who on the battlefield drank with their eyes the lotus face of Krishna, which was a delight to the eyes, and who were purified by the arrows of Arjuna, attained the abode of Krishna."
In this three line stanza, Bhisma expresses the comfort he felt through the vision of the Lord in front of his eyes during the battle, since he had been obliged to fight on the side of Duryodhana. However he was never confused about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, since he was able to see in the battlefield, that whoever was touched by His glance was granted liberation.  This perception of Bhisma places him somewhat above the Pandavas who had fallen into lamentation at times about the killing of friends and relatives. Bhisma was endowed with equal vision. He had come to this same conception as the Lord and it is expressed by the stanza "...no one could be hurt" because of Krishna's presence.

(8) This is the third part of the poem and Bhisma starts to speak from his chivalry rasa, whereas in the previous parts, his rasa of dasya was prominent, in awe and reverence of the opulent qualities of Krishna. In his chivalrous impetus, he attacks Arjun with the desire to make Krishna break His vow so that he can fight with Him.

(9) Krishna resolves, under the fierce attack of Bhisma's arrows, to give up the oath to not fight that He made to Duryodhana, and so the oath is defined in this stanza as "futile" because it was made to materialistic and impious personalities. In this way also, Bhisma's life-long oath to his father could now be classified as futile because it was made to satisfy his father's lust. However Krishna now wants to maintain the promises that really count. He had vowed to protect Arjuna and his chariot out of love and friendship. He also wanted to honor Bhisma's promise to fight by breaking His own promise not to fight. So Krishna, out of love for His devotee, puts the devotee's promise in front of His own, because the devotees' love for Him is so highly valued. And transcendentally, as only He can act, Krishna satisfies two different, and seemingly conflicting, promises at the same time.

Now occurs the most wondrous description of Krishna in this passage of the Bhagavatam. He who wears wounds, smears of blood and beads of sweat under the strenuous effort of defending his friend Arjuna, does so for the full pleasure of His chivalrous lover. This is the moment of highest ecstasy in this exchange of rasa.

(10) Bhisma thus reveals his eternal pastimes with the Lord, and also his own realization that he has always been acting in the service of the Lord to reach this climax where their eternal relationship and his eternal service are all that exist. All the rest is transformation of impermanent reality.  Bhisma will come again and again to serve the Lord in different roles, but ultimately only to exchange his love with Him in this chivalrous mood.

(11) SD 1.9.38 Comm.  "I desire to die now, for having died, I will constantly see that sweetness."