Srimad Bhagavatam

Bhīṣma confirms that no one can know the plan of the Lord and even though great philosophers and demigods like Brahmā and Śiva inquire exhaustively, they are still bewildered. It is best to simply abide by the orders of the Lord than to uselessly inquire about His plans. The Lord has to execute the plan of establishing the kingdom of virtue, and therefore His devotees suffered temporarily. Bhīṣma was satisfied to see the triumph of virtue. Even though he was a great devotee but he chose to fight against the Pāṇḍavas by the will of the Lord because the Lord wanted to show that even a great fighter like Bhīṣma cannot win on the wrong side.

No one may be aware of the plan of the Lord. Did he want to give the Pāṇḍavas suffering? It cannot be because then His quality of being affectionate to His devotee would be canceled. Did He want to give them joy? It cannot be because they had not seen any happiness. Did He want to give suffering and happiness? It cannot be because that would be a contradiction to His kind nature. So one cannot solve the problem by inquiry. Thus even those who use their intelligence to discriminate and those who use knowledge of scripture are bewildered by inquiry.

Bhīṣma asked Yudhiṣṭhira to accept the inconceivable plan of the Lord and take care of the subjects who had been rendered helpless. How can one not know the plan of the Lord when they could have asked the Lord, who was present at the moment right in front of them? In reply, Bhīṣma said that the Lord bewilders them with His energy. Even if asked by Bhīṣma, the Lord would not speak but instead evade him by answering ‘Am I so intelligent?’. Even if He said something, He would still bewilder everyone. Therefore His plan was to be followed and not subject to inquiry.

Lord Śiva, Nārada and Kapila know very confidentially about Kṛṣṇa’s glories thru direct contact but not His intentions. These three are among the 12 mahājanas – Brahmā, Kumāra, Manu, Prahlāda, Bhīṣma, Janaka, Śuka, Bali and Yama. Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that anubhāva, or the glory of the Lord, is first appreciated by the devotee in ecstasy (devotee in bhāva bhakti) manifesting the symptoms of perspiring, trembling, weeping etc, which are further enhanced by the steady understanding of the glories of the Lord. Such bhāvas are exchanged between Yaśodā and the Lord (binding Him by ropes) and in the chariot driving by the Lord in His exchange of love with Arjuna. These glories of the Lord are exhibited in His being subordinate to His devotees.

Śiva and others know those actions of Kṛṣṇa which He chooses to reveal (anubhāvam) but not His intentions, His real form or His real powers. The knower of rasa-śāstras knows first of all anubhāvas (glories) and sāttvika-bhāvas – paralysis, perspiration etc. By that he can understand the sthāyi-bhāva (steady or permanent emotion). By the particular qualities and intensity of the anubhāvas, he can understand the particular qualities and intensity of the sthāyi-bhāva. The knower of rasa-śāstras knows the anubhāva of Kṛṣṇa being tied by a rope by Yaśodā, and the dependent anubhāva of Kṛṣṇa being the charioteer for Arjuna, Yudhiṣṭhira and Ugrasena. The knower of rasa then infers that there exists something special in these cases which controls and melts the heart of even the Supreme Lord. That object, which melts the hearts of the viṣaya (Kṛṣṇa) and āśraya (devotee), which has many varieties and which brings both parties under the control of the other is called prema. Seeing that Kṛṣṇa is controlled more when He sees His devotees, who generate prema in Him, the knower of rasa infers that there is intense prema in the siddha and sādhaka devotees. He then concludes that Kṛṣṇa is the cause of difficulties for devotees, in order to increase their devotion to that level. Śiva, Nārada and Kapila know this. One sees an increase in prema in Draupadī and others when their difficulties increase. Śiva and Nārada know the anubhāvas or symptoms in the Lord. Other foolish people do not know them, like Kṛṣṇa allowing Himself to be tied up. They explain it as some sort of fake display.

Bhīṣma said the Personality, who the king thought to be his maternal cousin, dear friend, well wisher, counselor, messenger etc, is that very Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This shows the anubhāvas or actions performed by Kṛṣṇa out of deep love. The Lord, out of His causeless mercy, performs all kinds of service but still retains His position as the Absolute Person. To think of Him as an ordinary person is the grossest type of ignorance. His actions like being a messenger are not a deviation of His mind. Being the Absolute Lord, He is present in everyone’s heart. He is equally kind to everyone and is free from the false ego of differentiation. Therefore, whatever He does is free from material inebriety. Being the soul of everyone, there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa. Everything and everyone is the manifestation of His energy, and thus He is present everywhere by His energy, being non different from it. The sun is identified with its rays. Similarly the Lord is distributed by His different energies. Because there is no one else, He has no pride.

He is the supreme guidance of all, being situated in everyone’s hearts, and thus He is already the chariot driver and counsel of all living beings. There is no superior or inferior action because of His absolute spiritual identity, and so He does not feel inferior by becoming the chariot driver of His pure devotee. Even though He is the Supersoul and thus equal to all, and because everything that exists is His potency, still being controlled by the love of His devotees, Kṛṣṇa thinks He is their friend or kinsman. A devotee being filled with prema, does not consider his suffering caused by sinful acts that he alone has performed, to be suffering because of his prema. Thus the Lord who is full of all powers and is bliss personified can have no suffering from His actions of prema

Kṛṣṇa, who appears in the mind of the devotee by attentive devotion and meditation and by chanting of the holy name, releases the devotee (yogī) from the bondage of fruitive activities at the time of death. Yoga means concentration of the mind detached from all other subject matter. Such concentration is samādhi. A yogī devotee engages himself 24 hours daily in the nine fold devotional service of the Lord namely hearing, chanting, remembering, becoming a voluntary servant, worshiping, praying, carrying out orders, establishing a friendly relationship or offering all that one may possess. Such a perfect yogī is enabled by the grace of the Lord to concentrate his mind upon the Lord with perfect consciousness, and thus by chanting the holy name before quitting the body the yogī is at once transferred by the internal energy of the Lord to one of the eternal planets where there are no material miseries. Material life is produced by material desires where one has to endure the threefold miseries. Devotional service does not kill the natural desires of the living being but they are applied in the right cause of devotional service. Bhīṣma is referring to bhakti yoga here and he was fortunate to have the Lord directly in his presence before he quit his material body.