HV 12.3
मयापि हि प्रसादाद् वै दीर्घायुष्ट्वं पितुः प्रभो । पितृभक्त्यैव लब्धं च प्रागलोके परमं यशः ॥
mayāpi hi prasādād vai dīrghāyuṣṭvaṃ pituḥ prabho | pitṛ-bhaktyaiva labdhaṃ ca prāg-loke paramaṃ yaśaḥ
'By me also, by the grace [of the father], long life [was obtained]; and by pitṛ-bhakti alone was supreme fame obtained in the former world.'
The Living Words
*Prasādāt dīrghāyuṣṭvaṃ pituḥ*, 'by the grace of the father, long life'. *Pitṛ-bhaktyaiva labdham*, 'obtained by pitṛ-bhakti alone'. *Prāg-loke paramaṃ yaśaḥ*, 'supreme fame in the former world'.
The Heart of It
The verse gives Bhīṣma's personal testimony. *Pitṛ-bhaktyaiva labdhaṃ paramaṃ yaśaḥ* — 'by pitṛ-bhakti alone, supreme fame was obtained'. The Varkari tradition's teaching: Bhīṣma's famous *icchā-mṛtyu* (death-by-choice) is here rooted in *pitṛ-bhakti* — not in yogic austerity alone. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's teaching that pitṛ-bhakti undergirds all other yogic attainments, that no amount of tapas without filial devotion produces stable *yaśas*, has HV 12.3 as its Sanskrit witness from Bhīṣma's own mouth.