Bheeshma: Vow – Determination or Stubbornness?

Now if one were to think that things were fantastic in heaven so far, one may be forgiven to think that they get even more fantastic on earth.

One would think all the effort that Bheeshma went through to get the three princesses for Vichitravirya and in the process, preordain his own death through the wrath of Amba, would lead to some substantial gains, at the very least. The irony of the epic is that there are fantastic twists and turns at critical junctures, most of them with amazing backstories and this was one of those points.

It turned out that Vichitravirya, for whom this entire swayamvar episode had been orchestrated, did not live much longer after his marriage to Ambika and Ambalika. He died of an unexplained disease leaving the kingdom of Hastinapur not only kingless but also heirless. Bheeshma, who had taken the vow for his father Shantanu, and Satyavati, for whom the King Shantanu had allowed his illustrious son to live a life of celibacy and service were the only ones left alive. The children of Satyavathi were no more. But Hastinapur needed a king, and even more important than that, required a heir. Bheeshma was the only man to whom Satyavati looked towards as both.

Here it is important to put some context to the culture of Vedic times. The practice of niyoga as part of which a queen was allowed to beget progeny from other revered men, in the absence or death of the king, was common and dharmically accepted. It was probably constituted as early or untimely death of men in war or disease wasn’t uncommon, often leaving kingdoms without heirs. And the brother of the king was next in line not just to the throne after the king died, but also the natural and normally accepted choice to beget progeny from the king’s queen. It must be borne in mind that this was more like an on-loan act of service for begetting progeny. Or if one were to have a somewhat closer parallel in modern times, similar to a surrogate father due to lack of other available options. It was not considered an act of promiscuity or anything indicative of an illicit relationship. For all practical purposes, the biological father was deemed irrelevant, and the child was considered to be the son of the dead king and queen.

Given that context, Satyavati approached Bheeshma with the first option of taking over as the king straightaway. It was a national emergency of sorts, and a king was required urgently. Who better than Bheeshma for the throne? It was natural for Satyavati, in all goodwill, to think this way. But Bheeshma argued against it, saying that he had taken the vow of sacrificing his right to the throne, and serving whoever was the king. It would be morally and ethically inappropriate for him to take over just because the circumstances changed and no one, as of now, appeared to be available.

Satyavati then gave him the second option of begetting a son from Ambika and Ambalika, at least for the purpose of creating a heir for the future of the kingdom. Bheeshma refused this option too, citing his vow of lifelong celibacy. It was not with the intention of not taking responsibility. He had taken the vow of celibacy, and again argued that just because he seemed to be the only realistic option as of now, he cannot take advantage of the situation and break it.

If one were to take a step back and see the situation, Bheeshma found himself in circumstances where the throne was there for the taking for him. Not only was it available, but it was necessary for someone as capable as him to take it up. Secondly, in the absence of a heir, the stage was set for him to either enter into a marriage himself, or, at the very least, beget progeny through the queens of the deceased king. On top of this, one may argue that the circumstances in which he had taken the vow had changed drastically and were mostly irrelevant now. The purpose when the vow was taken was to protect the children of Satyavati, and to satisfy her conditions of marriage to Shantanu. Neither were her children alive, nor was anyone else a threat to the throne. Moreover, Satyavati herself requested Bheeshma to take up either the throne or marry or beget children. If there was any circumstance in which Bheeshma could have broken his vows, this was the one.

But despite that, he did not. Was he determined to go down the tough path treating this as a test of his intent? Was he honest in letter and spirit? Or was he needlessly stubborn and impractical? One can argue both ways in today’s world, but it is, without doubt, another example of the extreme adherence to dharma that Bheeshma displayed under hugely trying conditions.

Be that as it may. But then, Bheeshma’s refusal to budge led to a set of what might appear to be fantastic events and revelation of amazing backstories. Left with no option, Satyavati had to find some way out.

That led to her revealing a backstory to Bheeshma that she hadn’t told even her father or husband.

It turned out that prior to her marriage, as advised by her father, Satyavati was asked to provide the service of rowing travellers across the Ganga. Remember that she was part of the Matsysa kingdom and lived on the shores of the Ganga. This service of rowing was said to help her find a suitable husband. In one such rowing episode, the passenger was the enlightened sage Parashar. On that sojourn, he got a divine calling that the Lord had sought that exact time to be born on this earth in the form of a renowned and wise person who would create a legacy of knowledge for generations to come. Parashar requested Satyavati to be the instrument for such a glorious birth as the time was opportune and auspicious. Satyavati, being the unmarried damsel, found herself hesitating and even raised it with the sage.

She expressed her worry that in the event of she accepting union with the sage Parashar for this, no king would marry her in the future. Parashar promised her that, with his divine powers, he will ensure that there would be no signs of this event on her body and not only that, but she would be blessed with a divine fragrance that would attract the most powerful king of the era to her. Satyavati provided permission to sage Parashar who created an island with cloud mist cover around it, so that no one would see them. Out of that union was born the sage Dwaipayana Ved Vyas whose purpose was to spread knowledge for eternity. It did turn out that Ved Vyas was not an infant who needed any caring on birth, but took to his calling immediately, leaving Parashar and Satyavati to be just the vehicles of his birth, and, therefore, to get on with their lives.

Now this may sound fantastic but that is what Satyavati depended upon when she found herself in the desperate situation in search of a king and heir to her husband’s kingdom. She told Bheeshma that she would call upon Ved Vyas, her son so to speak, to do the needful, as he had promised to help her anytime she needed it. Bheeshma was happy that a solution had presented itself and in a sense, beyond the literary, it was the glory of the Lord that saw him through the most severe of tests of his vows.

When Satyavati called Vyasa for this help, he said he will need some time as he was unkempt and ugly having spent most of his life in the forests and mountains as a sage. But Satyavati insisted that there was no time to lose and whatever needed to be done had to be done here and now. Vyasa agreed hesitantly and Satyavati went to prepare Ambika and Ambalika for the ordeal.

As discussed earlier, this was a normal practice in those times and the queens were OK to go ahead. But the minor problem that eventually might be said to have caused major problems in the future was Satyavati didn’t tell the queens who the man was, except that it was your brother-in-law. Now, Ambika and Ambalika knew only one brother-in-law they had. They were happy that their brother-in-law Bheeshma would beget progeny for the kingdom through them, as per prevailing customs, and waited accordingly to fulfil their duty.

One must bear in mind that for the sage Ved Vyasa this was not an act of desire but a service to his mother in need of help to beget a progeny. Therefore, while it may sound fantastic, the context is important to be borne in mind.

Accordingly, Ambika was the first that Vyasa attended to. Expecting Bheeshma, when Ambika saw the unkempt sage, she found it hard to go through the ordeal. To somehow tolerate it, she closed her eyes and the result, as per Vyasa and his powers was that the son would be fit in all respects except his eyes. Satyavati got worried on hearing that and requested Vyasa for help one more time with Ambalika this time. It would be unfortunate if Hastinapur had to live with a blind king, hence another option would be necessary.

In the meantime, Ambika told Ambalika whom to expect and that it’s not Bheeshma. Despite that, when Vyasa came to her chamber, little did she realise that his physical appearance was even below her worst expectations. Looking at the thin, emaciated sage, her face turned pale and, as a result, Vyasa reported that the son born out of this union would be pale. Satyavati was still not happy and asked Vyasa for one more option, this time again with Ambika.

Now, inside the chambers, the sisters together decided that they have had enough with this ugly man, not knowing that he was the revered sage, and sent their maid servant instead. The maid servant instantly recognised the sage Vyasa and served him by washing his feet and being of service in line with his stature irrespective of his physical appearance. Thereafter, Vyasa reported that the son born out of that union would be wise and learned like him, but born in a non warrior clan due to his mother.

Satyavati found that this series of events were turning out to be a disaster of sorts. Even after three attempts, the outcome were not to her satisfaction. So she requested Vyasa again. But this time, Vyasa refused and said, as a sage and as her son, he had done enough and wasn’t allowed to help any further. Now, Satyavati and the kingdom will have to live with whatever has happened, as that was their destiny.

Now even in these circumstances, Satyavati looked at Bheeshma. All the three begotten progeny had some problem or the other. It was still possible for Bheeshma to either take the throne, or marry someone else, or beget appropriate progeny for Hastinapur through the queens. But all the three options were again out of question due to Bheeshma’s strict adherence to the vows.

Eventually, Bheeshma and Satyavati had cast the destiny of Hastinapur in stone. And because it was Dwaipayana Ved Vyasa who had a role in orchestrating it, one might say that it was the will of the Lord. At literary levels, all of this might sound fantastic and out of the world. But at the moral ethical level, it demonstrates the strength of Bheeshma’s character for others to learn from, despite being exposed to the most trying circumstances. And at the spiritual level, it shows the hand of the Lord in orchestrating everything that happened. One can say that at a spiritual level, Bheeshma played the role of that instrument to perfection with the future in mind, aligned with the Lord’s overall plan.

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