MAARKANDEYA presents MAHAABHAARATHAM

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W E L C O M E

"After praying to Naaraayana, Nara, Sarasvathi and Vyaasa, then one should read the Jayam."

DEDICATED TO MY DEAR NIECE VYSHNAVI KRISHNA

BHEESHMA,the GRANDSIRE

Also known as Devavratha

( The BH in this name is pronounced like a hardened sound of 'b' in 'beep'. The SH is pronounced like 'sh' in 'wish'. In the alternative name, the D is pronounced like 'th' in 'they'. The TH is pronounced like 'th' in 'with'.)

Bheeshma was the son of Shanthanu and the river goddess Ganga. He was manifestation of the eighth Vasu ( Prabhaasa) of the Gods. His original name was Devavratha. He is variously referred to as Bheeshma, Devavratha, Gaangeya, Shaanthanava, River's son, Pithaamaha (grandsire) etc.

DEVAVRATHA BECOMES BHEESHMA.

His father married Ganga on the condition that she should not be asked about her whatabouts and whatever she did should not be questioned. In fact she was once cursed by the god Brahma to live on the earth along with a king Mahaabhisha who too met with the same fate. That Mahaabhisha was born as Shanthanu and Ganga asked him to marry her on such terms. Shanthanu who fell for her in the first sight and who did not know the incidents of past birth, readily agreed. As soon as a son was born to them, she threw him into the river Ganga. Shanthanu was upset but did not say anything fearing her abandoning him. This happened seven times. In the case of the eighth son, Shanthanu could not hold. He protested and demanded reasons for her inhuman act. She explained him everything and also clarified that the sons thrown into the river were the gods Vasus who were to take human births but did not wish to remain on the earth for long time. The eighth Vasu ( Prabhaasa )was going to live on the earth for a very long period to compensate the loss of her other sons. That eighth son was Devavratha himself. He was brought up by his mother away from his father. He learnt doctrines from morality and policies Brihaspathi and other divine sages. he studied Vedas and their appendices from sage Chyavana of the Bhrigu lineage and from Vasishtha. He studied Philosophy from Sanathkumaara. He learnt from sage Maarjkandeya about the duties and way of life of monks ( ie Sanyaasi, the fourth order)He learnt archery from the celebrated Parashuraama himself. Ganga returned Devavratha to Shanthanu after he grew into a young man. However, as her action was questioned, Ganga left Shanthanu forever.

After some years, Shanthanu wanted to marry another girl Sathyavathi whose father Daasha accepted the proposal only subject to the condition that her own son should ascend the throne after Shanthanu. Obviously, Shanthanu was against that condition , unwilling to detriment Devavratha's rights and interests . Devavratha learnt that and assured Daasha of what he desired. But Daasha expressed doubt about the possibility of Devavratha's sons coming in the way in future. To obviate such possibility, Devavratha declared that he would remain celibate forever. That great vow made the gods hail him as Bheeshma (= the tremendous). Since then he was more known by that name. Shanthanu got pleased with his son's pious deed and awarded him a boon that he could die only at his will.

BHEESHMA, THE TRUSTEE OF THE THRONE

His role in Mahaabhaaratham was very pivotal. He lived long only to see generations grow and go. Since his father's death , he was on the guard of the throne and his younger half-brothers Chithraangada and Vichithraveerya . Chithraangada was killed in a fight with a gandharva of the same name . Later , while looking for suitable brides for Vichithraveerya, Bheeshma learnt about the svayamvara of the three daughters of Kaashi king . He attended the occasion and forcibly brought all the three girls Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika , defeating all the kings gathered including Saalva, the lover of Amba . This incident was very crucial in his life . After returning to his capital, Amba, the eldest of the girls, told him that she loved Saalva to whom she was already promised too. Bheeshma promptly sent her to Saallva but the latter firmly refused to accept her saying that a defeated person shall forego his claim over her . Amba returned to Bheeshma and demanded that he should marry her to compensate the damage she was to incur because of him . But the vow-bound Bheeshma summarily rejected . She invoked the support of sage Parashuraama who tried invain to persuade his disciple. The infuriated sage called him for a fight to decide the case and the young disciple engaged his mentor in the fight for twenty three days in a row . The clash ended with the defeat of the guru . Amba vowed to see Bheeshma's end and took up penance . Since then, Bheeshma kept guard on her whereabouts . He learnt that she propitiated god Shiva and obtained a boon from him to cause Bheeshma's death in her coming birth. Bheeshma left the things to the fate and immursed himself in the activities of guarding his state and king. He was the chief protector of the land . Aided by Vidura in policiy making and enjoying the support of such famous heros as Drona, Kripa, Somadaththa, Bhoorishravas etc., he was successful in building a vast empire for the Kurus.

He was respectfully called the grandsire by all. He truly stood by his words and never staked a claim to the throne even when there was an urge from his mother in a no-other-go situation too. He acted as an ideal trustee to the throne till his death.

BHEESHMA, THE WARRIOR

Bheeshma was the disciple of sage Parashuraama in archery and studied philosophy at sage Vasishtha and sage Sanathkumaara. Being Parashuraama's disciple was a vey coveted status those days . Parashuraama once had got angry with the community of kings as a whole and undertook twenty one extermination campaigns against them with stunning success. Taught by such a guru, Devavratha too was as chivalrous . Interestingly , he stood against his guru for a continuous twenty three day fight to finally win which was an unparallel achievement . His level of valour was proven on many occasions like the svayamvara of Kaashi princesses etc. .

In the Mahaabhaaratham war, Bheeshma was first made the army chief of Kouravas. Yudhishthira dreaded the grandsire very much . Minutes before the war, he went to the grand old man to bow and seek his blessings for victory . He even prayed to tell them the way to win him . Bheeshma, however, blessed and told him to visit again for that purpose .Bheeshma was not to be killed by any one unless he decided himself to die. Also, he set a rule for himself not to shoot at women, woman-turned-man, childless, brotherless etc. With these stringent conditions, he lead his side in the war for ten days killing ten thousand warriors a day . No one could stand against him in the war including Arjuna, despite Krishna's relentless encouragement. Bheeshma's invinciblity irritated Krishna himself and he took up his disc to kill Bheeshma, but Arjuna stopped him with great difficulty. This happened twice , once on the third day and again on the ninth day . The Paandavas and Krishna approached him late in the night of the ninth day and urged him to reveal the way to kill him . The brave grandsire explained to them that he would not fight with a woman-turned man . They took the hint and brought Shikhandi to Bheeshma's front in the following day's war. Shikhandi was none other than Amba , who took birth as a woman but turned into a man with the cooperation of a Yaksha in an unusual situation . Finally Bheeshma fell to the powerful arrows of Arjuna who took guard behind Shikhandi. But he remained alive on the arrow bed for nearly two months and finally died at his will in an auspicious period (i.e Uththaraayana, when the sun enters the zodiac of Capricorn) that he looked for.

BHEESHMA, THE LEARNED

Seldom were found heros of valour with profound multfaceted knowledge . Bheeshma was one such hero. His fame rested not only on his bow but even on his learning . He was an experet administrator of the state . His knowledge of various branches of life and philosophy in particualr were wonderful. His philosophical knowledge was displayed vividly in his teachings given to Yudhishthira from death bed for nearly two months. These discourses cover a wide range of subjects .

Though young, valourous and powerful , he was never unruly. He took a firm stand to remain bachelor for ever for his father's cause and he swerved not . Also, he was committed to the word given to Daasha and never entertained the thoughts of staking a claim to the throne even on being urged by his step mother Sathyavathy herself . He acted as an ideal trustee to the throne till his death.

He understood that the incorrigible Kouravas were jealous and always condemned their crooked ways . He prevailed upon Dhiratharaashtra to disown Duryodhana for the good of the clan and land but his word went into deaf ears.

Many critics find fault with him for his scilence in the ugly scene of disrobing of Droupadi by the Kouravas right before his eyes . That sounds reasonable , but we should understand that he was committed to guard the throne and the king ,yet he had no vested powers to order any ruling king . His sticking on to the Kouravas side must be understood as his faithfulness to the throne but not to his unruly grandsons. The revealing of his death secret to the Paandavas was also considered immoral by some critics. But, it was about his own life that he risked , not the lives of others. Or, he might have thought that allowing victory to either side made no difference to him .

Anyway, no person can satisfy the world by all means. With his seeming tilt towards the Paandavas,whom he believed were righteous, he was to bear the public opinion that he was biased in favour of the Paandavas . Leaving those minor aspects that our current day assessment disapproves, he was no doubt an ideal character by any standards . Even today, the Indians pay tributes to him by respectfully offering propitiating ritual waters in commemoration of his death i.e. on the eleventh day of the month of Maagha, roughly corresponding to mid-February, every year. The five days of the month of Maagha from the bright seventh to the bright eleventh day are known as Bheesma-Panchkam i.e. Bheeshma's five days. Popular belief was that Bheeshma passed away on the elevennth day, but scholars maintain that he passed away on the seventh day .

It was said that even the illiterate Akbar had commented after hearing the Mahaabhaaratham :
"One old man and one young man I like." [ Ek boodha our ek ladaka
He was referring to Bheeshma and Abhimanyu seperated by four generations.