Question: Bhismadeva concentrated on Lord Sri Krsna and entered the spiritual realm in one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets where the Lord is in His eternal form of Pārtha-sārathi. However, in his previous life, he was cursed by Vasistha Muni due to his misdeed of stealing Muni’s Kamadhenu that he would take a birth on earth & spend a whole life, and then he would return to his position as one of 8 Vasus. So, my question is, if by Krsna’s will, can Bhismadeva exist simultaneously as 2 identifications, a Vasu & a Vaikuntha resident?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
The understanding of Bhīṣma attained Kṛṣṇa’s Pārtha-sārathi form after his departure, which is written in SB 1.9.44 Purport, can be traced to Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura: “Bhīṣma had attained his cherished form of Kṛṣṇa as the charioteer (evaṁ bhīṣmaḥ svābhilaṣitaṁ pārthasārathiṁ prāpa).” (Sārārtha-Darśini-ṭīkā 1.9.44). Jīva Gosvāmī similarly explained, “The words brahmaṇi niṣkale can mean that Bhīṣma attained Kṛṣṇa, Brahman in human form (niṣkalabrahmaśabdena māyātīto narākṛtiparabrahmarūpaḥ śrīkṛṣṇa evocyate).” (Krama-sandarbha 1.9.44)
While the Bhāgavatam (1.9.9) addresses Bhīṣma as vasu-uttamaḥ (the best among the Vasus), it does not mention Bhīṣma’s previous birth as one of the eight Vasus and being cursed by Vasiṣṭha to take birth on earth, nor does it mention Bhīṣma’s regaining his position as a Vasu after his departure. These understandings are from the Mahābhārata (see the appended texts).
Jīva Gosvāmī commented (Krama-sandarbha 1.9.44), “One may argue that since Bhīṣma was a Vasu he should not attain the Lord for it is said yāvad-adhikāram avashitir ādhiārikānām: The jīvas holding posts in the universe remain as long as their term lasts (and later they attain liberation.) (Brahma-sūtra 3.3.33) This is not true since by pastimes, his expansion was a Vasu. Śruti says that the liberated soul has special powers. Tasya sarveṣu lokeṣu kāmacāro bhavati: he wanders at will in all planets. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad). Thus this is not contrary to Mahābhārata.”
Similar understandings are also given by Sanātana Gosvāmī in Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, i.e., it is possible for an associate of Kṛṣṇa to exist in many forms and many places yet stay essentially one in pursuant to Kṛṣṇa’s desire for pastimes (see the appended texts).
From these references, the answer to this specific question is clear.
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Mahābhārata, English translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-mahabharata-mohan
• Book 1 – Adi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Section XCIX
‘Because the Vasus have stolen my cow of sweet milk and handsome tail, therefore, shall they certainly be born on earth!’
…
‘You Vasus, with Dhava and others, you have been cursed by me. But you shall be freed from my curse within a year of your birth among men. But he for whose deed you have been cursed by me he, viz., Dyu, shall for his sinful act, have to dwell on earth for a length of time.
…
And O best of kings, from the Rishi’s curse, this one only, viz., Dyu, himself, is to live on earth for some time.’
• Book 13 – Anushasana Parva, Anusasanika Parva, Section XCIX
The life-breaths, restrained and unable to escape through any of the outlets, at last pierced through the crown of the head and proceeded upwards to heaven. … The life-breaths of Bhishma, piercing through the crown of his head, shot up through the welkin like a large meteor and soon became invisible. Even thus, O great king, did Santanu’s son, that pillar of Bharata’s race, united himself with eternity.
Without doubt, your son has gone to the highest region of felicity! He was one of the Vasus of great energy. … Agreeably to Kshatriya duties, he was slain by Dhananjaya on the field of battle while engaged in battle. … O you of beautiful face, your son has, in felicity, gone to heaven. … Your son has gone to heaven.
• Book 18, Svargarohanika Parva, Section 4
Behold the royal Bhishma, the son of Santanu, now in the midst of the Vasus.
Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta (BBT)
• TEXT 2.5.52: Just as the one Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa exists in many forms and many places, so also do we, His servants.
• TEXT 2.5.53: So it is with all of us—Śrī Garuḍa and other attendants, devotees like Śrīmān Hanumān, and our friend Uddhava, and others too, like these Yādavas.
Commentary: Devotees like Garuḍa and Śeṣa are associates of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, whereas Hanumān, Jāmbavān, and others are servants of Lord Rāmacandra. Hanumān sings the glories of Lord Rāma in the Kimpuruṣa-loka of the Bhūloka region and simultaneously in the Ayodhyā of Vaikuṇṭha. And Uddhava, whom Gopa-kumāra can see right before him, is simultaneously one of the principal companions of Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā on earth, along with the Yādavas, the Pāṇḍavas, and others. Considering the topic too confidential to bring up just now, Nārada chooses not to mention Kṛṣṇa’s devotees in Śrī Goloka.
• TEXT 2.5.54: All the Lord’s personal associates are at His hand like playthings. They are always fully dedicated to His service. Each assumes a variety of forms yet stays essentially one, just like the Lord Himself.
Commentary: As Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, the original Supreme Person, expands Himself into innumerable forms of Godhead, when required for service to the Lord His eternal associates can also expand themselves into many forms. Perpetually dedicated to worshiping Him, they are willing instruments in the enactment of His pleasure pastimes. Whatever gives the Lord happiness is also their satisfaction. So when He expands Himself and His abode into all sorts of forms, they accompany Him in suitably corresponding forms. Gopa-kumāra should therefore not be amazed that Nārada appears in more than one place at once for the service of the Lord.
• TEXT 2.5.55: The Lord’s names, His pastimes, and His favorite abodes and everything that has to do with His service can assume various forms. And you should know that just as all these are eternally real, each of them is simultaneously one and many.
Commentary: While still on the topic of multiple expansions, Nārada takes the opportunity to mention that the Personality of Godhead’s pastimes, His dear abodes such as Śrī Mathurā, and His paraphernalia like the Kaustubha gem and Sudarśana weapon display the same power of expansion. Here the word bhūmi refers not only to the earth but to any location, and so indicates other spiritual realms, such as Vaikuṇṭha. The Supreme Lord’s personal property, His names, His pastimes, and the places of His appearance are all by nature pure sac-cid-ānanda, just as He is.
• TEXT 2.4.161-162: Thus although Kṛṣṇa, His associates, and His abode are seen in various forms in different places, and in dreams and other special states of consciousness, they are with perfect consistency one although many, and they are always
Commentary: If one worships Kṛṣṇa in any of His forms, whether they reside in Vaikuṇṭha or in any other of His abodes, one satisfies all His expansions. All the devotees of the Lord’s plenary expansions therefore have great fondness and regard for one another.
• TEXT 2.4.163: That one Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, resides in various places and appears in many forms just to give pleasure to all of His multitude of servants.
Commentary: The Supreme Lord has a multitude of devotees to satisfy, and that is the fundamental reason He appears in so many different forms. He assumes forms like Dharma-nandana and resides in abodes like Badarikāśrama to give pleasure to devotees such as Śrī Nārada. And as implied by the suffix -ādi (in tat-tad- rūpādinā), He displays various kinds of bodily ornaments, pastimes, and so on. Nārada ascribes such greatness to the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha because Lord Nārāyaṇa, like Kṛṣṇa in Goloka, is avatārī, a source of expansions and incarnations. With this idea in mind, Nārada in this verse calls Lord Nārāyaṇa by the name Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The use of the name Kṛṣṇa subtly implies that Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Goloka is the most glorious of all the Lord’s forms.
