Week 13 Story, Bhishma
During the Kurukshetra war, Bhishma was fighting from the Kauravas' side. On the 10th day of the war, Pandavas apprehended that they have to use Shikhandin to bring Bhishma down. Shikhandin was born a woman, and there was no way Bhishma would fight a woman. Shikhandin accompanied Arjuna on his chariot. The Pandavas were right. Bhishma shouted, " Shikhandin, you know I will not fight you!" "Good for me," Shikhandin laughed, "Either way, I am bringing you down!" Together, Shikhandin and Arjuna pierced every part of Bhishma's body. I was there, waiting to take Bhishma with me. I could see he was in pain. In so much pain. I said, "Let's go!" Bhishma looked at me from the side of his eye, and he smiled. This old man had the audacity to smile! All Bhishma was thinking was how great of a warrior Arjuna has become. He was so proud of him.
The old warrior soon fell down from his chariot, but his body was so pierced with the arrows that it rested on top of them. He was bleeding. "Bhishma, your body cannot be recovered from these many wounds. Come, let's go." "Dharmaraja," he said, "I have things left to do. I need to teach your son, my grandson, Yudhishthira, about becoming a king and ruling a kingdom. I know he would need this wisdom." Saying this, Bhishma fell silent. I knew the pain was too much.
Later that evening, the Pandavas, Kauravs, and Krishna visited him. They asked if they could do anything for him. Bhishma's head was hanging over the ground unsupported. Duryodhana told one of his brothers to get pillows, but Bhishma stopped him. "Arjuna, I need you to give me a pillow fit for a warrior," said Bhishma. Arjuna knew exactly what he was talking about. Arjuna then paced three arrows, facing up beneath Bhishma's head. Bhishma smiled. "Arjuna," he said again, "I am thirsty." To quench Bhishma's thirst, Arjuna shot an arrow into the Earth, and a stream of water fell into Bhishma's mouth. It is said that it was Goddess Ganga herself that came to quench her son's thirst.
I was getting uncomfortable seeing Bhishma in so much pain. "How long will it take you to teach Yudhishthir everything?" I asked him. "Are you asking me when I'll be ready to depart? Hmm, let's see... We will leave on the first day of Uttarayana (a day after the Winter Solstice.)" So, every evening, for about 58 nights, Bhishma answered every question Yudhishthira had. It was torture to see him in that state every single day. The day when the sun made the northward journey, the morning of Uttarayana, Bhishma told me its time. My eyes teared up hearing those words. Bhishma was ready to leave! He finally gave up his body. I seemed liberated walking away from the battleground, and I had the utmost respect for him.
Author's Note: For the last story of my blog, I chose to write about Bhishma because I wanted to show how helpless Yama would get not being able to take Bhishma with him. We talk about death and how painful it is but this time, it was more painful to stay alive, but Bhishma completed his duty. I said Yama served Bhisma because I needed a reason for him seeing Yama. Here's a link if you want to read more about Uttarayana. I hope you enjoy the story!
Bibliography: Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs
Hey Rishikaa!
ReplyDeleteThis was the first story of yours that I've read, and I think you did a great job at telling Bhishma's story! You were able to give context and then smoothly jump into the story you wanted to tell pretty well. I haven't read your portfolio yet, but knowing that this story is the final one for it does make me want to check it out.