ऋत्विग् गुरुर् विवाह्यश् च स्नातको नृपतिः प्रियः ॥
सर्वम् एतद् धृषीकेशे तस्माद् अभ्यर्चितो ऽच्युतः ॥
कृष्ण एव हि लोकानाम् उत्पत्तिर् अपि चाप्ययः ॥
कृष्णस्य हि कृते भूतम् इदं विश्वं समर्पितम् ॥
एष प्रकृतिर् अव्यक्ता कर्ता चैव सनातनः ॥
परश् च सर्वभूतेभ्यस् तस्माद् वृद्धतमो ऽच्युतः ॥
ṛtvig gurur vivāhyaś ca snātako nṛpatiḥ priyaḥ ||
sarvam etad dhṛṣīkeśe tasmād abhyarcito 'cyutaḥ ||
kṛṣṇa eva hi lokānām utpattir api cāpyayaḥ ||
kṛṣṇasya hi kṛte bhūtam idaṃ viśvaṃ samarpitam ||
eṣa prakṛtir avyaktā kartā caiva sanātanaḥ ||
paraś ca sarvabhūtebhyas tasmād vṛddhatamo 'cyutaḥ ||
"Officiating priest, guru, one worthy of marriage kinship, graduate, king, friend — all this is united in Hrishikesha, and therefore Achyuta is honored. For Krishna is both the arising of the worlds and their dissolution; for the sake of Krishna this existing universe was created. He is the unmanifest prakriti and the eternal doer, and he is beyond all beings; therefore Achyuta is the eldest of all."
befc2a810715 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:27 PM UTC
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Here Bhishma's speech ascends from the earthly to the transcendent: Krishna does not merely combine in himself all roles worthy of honor — he is "the arising and dissolution of the worlds," "the unmanifest prakriti and the eternal doer," "beyond all beings." It is telling that the argument for honoring him culminates in the proclamation of Krishna as the Supreme: all existence issues from him, abides in him, and returns to him, and the universe itself was created "for his sake." The verse teaches the highest truth — the Lord is both the cause of the world and its goal; to call him "the eldest" is to acknowledge in him the Source prior to every beginning. To honor Krishna is to honor the One from whom and for whom everything exists.