Bheeshma: Dharma and a Death Preordained

After the vow, Shantanu and Satyavati’s marriage culminated, and as we know, they had two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.

Chitrangada was a fierce warrior and extremely proud of it, which turned out to be the reason for his early death. As the name of the brave king Chitranganda spread far and wide, it turned out that a celestial being with the same name felt pangs of envy and challenged him into a fight. The warrior code and his pride made sure that, despite warnings from Bheeshma and others that he was stepping on fire, Chitranganda entered the fight against that being and perished. That meant that it left Vichitravirya to take charge of the throne of Hastinapur.

Being the elder brother almost equivalent to the father, it was Bheeshma’s responsibility after Shantanu passed away to arrange for a suitable queen for Vichitravirya. At that time, he heard of the swayamvar ceremony in the kingdom of Kashi for the king’s three daughters Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. Not only did he barge into that event, but basically won over and carried away the three of them as brides for Vichitravirya. The only person who resisted Bheeshma’s valour was Shalva who lost the duel.

In all the melee in which Bheeshma presented the three princesses to Satyavati as Vichitravirya’s queens, no one asked them what they wanted. It turned out that Amba was in love secretly with Shalva and had fixed for him to win her over at the swayamvar. But nobody had expected Bheeshma to land up and force them to toss their plans away. But Bheeshma heard her out when she told him and even escorted her back to Shalva. But being a king who had lost her in a duel, and she being won over by someone else, Shalva found it tough to accept Amba. Bheeshma then tried to convince Vichitravirya to take her back, but he refused saying there’s no point in marrying someone who had given her heart to another man. Amba demanded now that Bheeshma should marry her as he is responsible for this turn of events, which Bheeshma rejected outright given the vow of celibacy.

A woman spurned not by one but by three men is no doubt dangerous and Amba turned out to be that and furious. She did not go back to Kashi but to the forests where she begged the sages to help her. One of them guided her to Parashuram who had already fought and finished the Kshatriyas twenty one times. He was in no mood to fight with them again and moreover, Bheeshma was his favorite student and protégé. But Amba was unrelenting and that led Parashuram to approach Bheeshma with his request for reconciliation. That didn’t work and it led him to a fight again. It was a fierce battle that lasted twenty seven days and finally Bheeshma was on the verge of victory due to a special weapon to which Parashuram had no reply. But the Gods told him not to use it and he, wisely, took their counsel when he saw Parashuram drop his arms too. It was a defeat of sorts for Parashuram who had singlehandedly defeated the Kshatriyas twenty one times and the sign of Bheeshma’s ferocity as a warrior. Both of them went their own ways with Parashuram telling Amba he had tried everything and can’t do anything more.

But Amba wasn’t willing to accept her destiny. She went further to the forests and after intense penance got a benediction from Lord Shiva that she will be the cause of Bheeshma’s death. It was only then that she gave up her body and left the earth.

It turned out that she reappeared in her next birth as the daughter turned son of Dhrupad and sister of Draupadi named Shikhandi. King Dhrupad had prayed to Lord Shiva for a son and had got their prayers answered. So despite the fact that a daughter was born they declared that they had a son and brought the daughter up like a son. It was only when he / she got married to a princess and the princess complained that she had been conned by being married to a girl that it became clear what Shikhandi’s gender was. Distraught, Shikhandi took to the forests and met a celestial Yaksha who agreed to exchange his gender out of compassion. Shikhandi the man then returned to the kingdom to everyone’s surprise. Things were hunky dory for a while till Kuber asked the Yaksha to get his gender back or else suffer the consequences. Fortunately, the Yaksha explained his deeds and Shikhandi remained a man, though born a woman. He was Amba reborn, which would haunt Bheeshma till the end, and become the reason for his dropping arms when Krishna brought Shikhandi in front of Bheeshma in his fight with Arjuna.

Bheeshma’s death in a sense was preordained long ago when he caused Amba’s fury. At a literary level, one might think this is all a make believe world of fantasy. But at a moral ethical level, Bheeshma faced situations where he was forced to choose between options that all might have been right. He could have broken his vow and married Amba or he could have prevented Amba from doing the penance required to get the benediction that turned out to be fatal. Or at worst, he could have used military tactics to prevent Shikhandi from facing him. Despite knowing what was in store all along, Bheeshma followed the path of dharma and made his choices based on that. There is no escaping one’s own karma which he faced valiantly on the battlefield, especially when he realised that it was orchestrated by the Lord Krishna and took it as His will. Therefore, at literary, ethical and spiritual levels, this preordained episode that loomed large over Bheeshma’s life is a lesson on following the path of dharma despite all odds. For that reason alone, Bheeshma is often said to be the character closest to perfection in the epic.