My intro post was about the start of the Mahabharata, with Devavrata becoming Bhishma. This is in continuation...
Probably the most uninteresting characters in the Mahabharata were Bhishma's step brothers - Chitrangadha and Vichitravirya.
Chitrangadha, the elder of the two becomes the king of the Kurus when Shantanu is gone. He soon dies childless, and the still very young Vichitravirya ascends to the throne with Bhishma ruling on his behalf. I'm guessing that Bhishma is already quite old by this time (say 50 or so), but probably still young given the lifespans in those times.
Bhishma hears of the king of Kashi announcing a swayamvara for his daughters - Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. Since Vichitravirya is too young, Bhishma decides on go to the swayamvara on his behalf. But... he has other plans for the swayamvara itself. There probably are different varieties of swayamvara, including contests (like the one Arjuna wins at Draupadi's swayamvara), and others where the princess chooses one herself. Irrespective of the mode of the swayamvara, there appears to have been a rule that any suitor prince can kidnap the princess and challenge the rest of the princes to battle. If the kidnapper wins, he gets to marry the princess. Not sure what happens if he loses. I suppose he would be considered disqualified, and the swayamvara would continue as before. Or, maybe the prince that wins against the kidnapper prince is considered the winner of the swayamvara.
Since Bhishma is at this swayamvara on Vichitravirya's behalf, he decides to take the kidnap route. By the way, I read a quasi-history/indology article (or maybe it was a documentary) a while ago that places the Mahabharata, or at least parts of it in Central Asia, since the kidnapping of girls to marry them is apparently common there even now (?). I'm losing patience with indology researchers who jump to conclusions based on what appears to be flimsy evidence. But I digress...
Bhishma kidnaps the three princesses, challenges the other assembled princes, and dashes off to Hastinapura. On the way, he is challenged by several of the other princes who lose easily. Even Shalya, himself a mighty warrior loses. Shalya is important in this episode because he and Amba have already taken a liking to each other, and Amba expects him to be her man at the end of the swayamvara.
On reaching Hastinapura, Amba reveals her interest in Shalya, and Bhishma lets her go. However, Shalya refuses to accept her because she was won by someone else. Amba now finds herself in a spot, and goes back to Bhishma to ask him to marry her. Bhishma refuses, saying he has already taking a vow to remain a bachelor for ever. Amba is now furious, because she has no options ("it's complicated"). She then requests Parashurama to fight Bhishma for her revenge, which Parashurama accepts.
(image courtesy wikipedia)
Bhishma and Parashurama fight for 23 days, and is unable to fell Bhishma. Some versions of this story say that Bhishma decides to use an astra that Parashurama has no knowledge of, at which point the Gods and Parashurama's father rishi Jamadagni intervene and stop Bhishma and Parashurama, respectively.
I'm not sure why Parashurama, an avatara of Vishnu, who is all seeing-knowing, ends up in this situation, but that's a different matter. The Parashurama character deserves a dedicated post..
Anyway, once Parashurama declares that Bhishma is invincible in battle, Amba decides to take her fight to her next birth. She prays to Shiva, and obtains a boon that she will be born a man who would remember his past birth, and will also be the cause of Bhishma's death. Amba is hence reborn as Shikhandi (to Drupada, Draupadi's father), who fights on the side of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata war.
The story now shifts to the Mahabharata war, where knowing that Bhishma would not fight Shikhandi, the Pandavas plan for him to face Bhishma. The Pandavas do this based on Bhishma's suggestion when they seek his advice on defeating him. Even though Shikhandi is a man, I suppose the reason Bhishma would not fight him is that the true nature of Shikhandi is female. Some schools of thought hold that each soul is inherently male/female, and hence a mere accidental birth (for whatever reason) in the opposite sex would not change the inherent.
(image courtesy sbonlifensuch.wordpress.com)
There are only two episodes in the entire Mahabharata (that I am aware of) where Bhishma drops his weapons and welcomes death. Is this selfish behaviour or a character flaw as the commander of an army? Perhaps, but more on this question later.
The first incident is at the start (?) of the Mahabharata when Arjuna refuses to fight Bhishma. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he wouldn't fight Bhishma, then he would finish Bhishma off. On seeing Krishna rush towards him, Bhishma drops his weapons and welcomes death at the hands of the supreme being. This incident, of course, do not end in Bhishma's death because Arjuna stops Krishna and agrees to fight.
(image courtesy indianetzone.com)
The second incident is when Shikhandi (Amba!) is put by the Pandavas before Bhishma on the battlefield, and challenges him to a fight. Arjuna takes Shikhandi along in his chariot, and when Shikhandi challenges Bhishma, the latter drops his weapons.
This being the only chance to take Bhishma out, Arjuna puts arrows into Bhishma and lays him on the bed of arrows.
While it is Arjuna who fells Bhishma, it is Shikhandi who 'causes' his death, technically satisfying Shiva's boon while still giving Bhishma an honourable death at the hands of Arjuna. Arjuna brings Bhishma's mother Ganga to him, by shooting an arrow into the ground (baan-ganga) that creates a fountain of water for him to drink from. Bhishma also recites the Vishnu sahasranama on his death bed, singing Vishnu's praise. Bhishma, not wanting to die in Dakshinayana, postpones his death (boon from his father Shantanu) until the start of auspicious Uttarayana (just before sankaranthi/pongal).
Probably the most uninteresting characters in the Mahabharata were Bhishma's step brothers - Chitrangadha and Vichitravirya.
Chitrangadha, the elder of the two becomes the king of the Kurus when Shantanu is gone. He soon dies childless, and the still very young Vichitravirya ascends to the throne with Bhishma ruling on his behalf. I'm guessing that Bhishma is already quite old by this time (say 50 or so), but probably still young given the lifespans in those times.
Bhishma hears of the king of Kashi announcing a swayamvara for his daughters - Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. Since Vichitravirya is too young, Bhishma decides on go to the swayamvara on his behalf. But... he has other plans for the swayamvara itself. There probably are different varieties of swayamvara, including contests (like the one Arjuna wins at Draupadi's swayamvara), and others where the princess chooses one herself. Irrespective of the mode of the swayamvara, there appears to have been a rule that any suitor prince can kidnap the princess and challenge the rest of the princes to battle. If the kidnapper wins, he gets to marry the princess. Not sure what happens if he loses. I suppose he would be considered disqualified, and the swayamvara would continue as before. Or, maybe the prince that wins against the kidnapper prince is considered the winner of the swayamvara.
Since Bhishma is at this swayamvara on Vichitravirya's behalf, he decides to take the kidnap route. By the way, I read a quasi-history/indology article (or maybe it was a documentary) a while ago that places the Mahabharata, or at least parts of it in Central Asia, since the kidnapping of girls to marry them is apparently common there even now (?). I'm losing patience with indology researchers who jump to conclusions based on what appears to be flimsy evidence. But I digress...
Bhishma kidnaps the three princesses, challenges the other assembled princes, and dashes off to Hastinapura. On the way, he is challenged by several of the other princes who lose easily. Even Shalya, himself a mighty warrior loses. Shalya is important in this episode because he and Amba have already taken a liking to each other, and Amba expects him to be her man at the end of the swayamvara.
On reaching Hastinapura, Amba reveals her interest in Shalya, and Bhishma lets her go. However, Shalya refuses to accept her because she was won by someone else. Amba now finds herself in a spot, and goes back to Bhishma to ask him to marry her. Bhishma refuses, saying he has already taking a vow to remain a bachelor for ever. Amba is now furious, because she has no options ("it's complicated"). She then requests Parashurama to fight Bhishma for her revenge, which Parashurama accepts.
(image courtesy wikipedia)
I'm not sure why Parashurama, an avatara of Vishnu, who is all seeing-knowing, ends up in this situation, but that's a different matter. The Parashurama character deserves a dedicated post..
Anyway, once Parashurama declares that Bhishma is invincible in battle, Amba decides to take her fight to her next birth. She prays to Shiva, and obtains a boon that she will be born a man who would remember his past birth, and will also be the cause of Bhishma's death. Amba is hence reborn as Shikhandi (to Drupada, Draupadi's father), who fights on the side of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata war.
The story now shifts to the Mahabharata war, where knowing that Bhishma would not fight Shikhandi, the Pandavas plan for him to face Bhishma. The Pandavas do this based on Bhishma's suggestion when they seek his advice on defeating him. Even though Shikhandi is a man, I suppose the reason Bhishma would not fight him is that the true nature of Shikhandi is female. Some schools of thought hold that each soul is inherently male/female, and hence a mere accidental birth (for whatever reason) in the opposite sex would not change the inherent.
(image courtesy sbonlifensuch.wordpress.com)
The first incident is at the start (?) of the Mahabharata when Arjuna refuses to fight Bhishma. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he wouldn't fight Bhishma, then he would finish Bhishma off. On seeing Krishna rush towards him, Bhishma drops his weapons and welcomes death at the hands of the supreme being. This incident, of course, do not end in Bhishma's death because Arjuna stops Krishna and agrees to fight.
(image courtesy indianetzone.com)
This being the only chance to take Bhishma out, Arjuna puts arrows into Bhishma and lays him on the bed of arrows.
While it is Arjuna who fells Bhishma, it is Shikhandi who 'causes' his death, technically satisfying Shiva's boon while still giving Bhishma an honourable death at the hands of Arjuna. Arjuna brings Bhishma's mother Ganga to him, by shooting an arrow into the ground (baan-ganga) that creates a fountain of water for him to drink from. Bhishma also recites the Vishnu sahasranama on his death bed, singing Vishnu's praise. Bhishma, not wanting to die in Dakshinayana, postpones his death (boon from his father Shantanu) until the start of auspicious Uttarayana (just before sankaranthi/pongal).
//I'm not sure why Parashurama, an avatara of Vishnu, who is all seeing-knowing, ends up in this situation//
ReplyDeleteThough not all the different streams of thought accept the following reasoning, at least some of them do. Paramatma Sriman Narayana has poornavatarams as well as amsha and Avesha avatarams. In the latter two, he deposits his divya shakti to the extent required (for the respective task) in a jivatma. Parashurama, Balarama, kArtavIryArjuna are such cases. Hence, it is not necessarily true that they are all omniscient (even though they are clubbed under the common category of vishnu avatarams)
Situations such as the Parashurama-Bhishma episode can be explained away somewhat trivially by saying that the Lord works in mysterious ways, but it may not satisfy everyone. Sometimes, there is truly no reason that we (humans) can come up with. The vedas declare that though they are the authoritative source of knowledge, they do not (and cannot) fully describe Brahman who is infinite.
ReplyDeleteThe poornavatara/avesha argument requires a dedicated blog post, but here is a different tack...
Whatever the 'task', only infinitesimal effort is needed from Brahman (any form - whether Krishna or Parashurama or Matsya), given that He is all-seeing, knowing, and capable. So, there is no need of a poornavatara at all in any circumstance, correct?
And while at it, why would Matsya (or other non-human form) be considered somewhat inferior in form to say a Krishna or a Rama? Brahman, for whom there is no material affliction...