Lesser known facts about bhishma from mahabharata

Bhishma was the grandfather of Kuru ancestry. Everyone at that time, respected Bhishma. He was a great warrior. Shantanu and Goddess Ganga were his parents. He was the eighth son of the couple. Here we provides you some Lesser Known Facts about Bhishma from Mahabharata.
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About Bhishma

Bhishma was the grandfather of Kuru ancestry. Everyone at that time,
respected Bhishma. He was a great warrior. Shantanu and Goddess
Ganga were his parents.

He was the eighth son of the couple. Parashurama was his Guru. Once,
Bhishma fought with Parashurama and won in it. It is also believed
that Bhishma advised Vishnu Sahasra Naam to Yudhishtira while he
was waiting for death by lying on the bed of arrows.

He was a great legend in the Epic. If he was not there, the
Mahabharata story would not become this much elaborate. Bhishma

also had the name Devavritha and Gangadatha.

So here, you are going to read some lesser known facts about Bhishma
from this post.

But before that, let me bring you to his birth and some stories.

3. Birth of Bhishma

Most of the characters in Mahabharata had an unusual birth, as did
Bhishma.

One day, Ashtavasus (the eight Vasus) visited the hermitage of
Vasishta with their wives. One of the women was attracted to
Kamadhenu, the wish- fulfilling cow of the Sage. He asked his
husband Prabhasa to steal it.

He did exactly the same with the help of others. Vasishta came to
know that it was Ashtavasus behind the abduction of his beloved
cows. Hence, he cursed them to born on the earth.

Ashtavasus returned the cow on hearing this and they requested the
Sage to take back the curse. But it was not possible even to the
pronouncer. So he did one thing.

Vasishta consoled them saying that seven of them would be
returned soon after their birth. But the eighth one, Prabhasa was
not allowed to escape from the curse. Vasishta told that he had to
live his life to the fullest on the earth as he committed the kidnap.
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4. That’s how Bhishma born. He was the rebirth of
Prabhasa.

One day, the King of Hastinapur, Shantanu was riding
his horse along the banks of Ganges. He came there for
hunting. During the ride, he noticed a beautiful girl
standing near the river. The King fell in love with her at
once.

He stopped his horse and approached the lady.
Shantanu opened his heart to her. She said that she was
the Goddess of Ganges. She had no problems to be his
wife only on the conditions that he should not be an
obstacle for her wishes.

Shantanu agreed. Both of them got married and started
living in his palace. But he had no idea about her
future- doings. Months passed. Ganga became
pregnant. Shantanu was happy to know this. At last, his
wait was over. Ganga gave birth to a boy child.

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5. After the birth, she brought the child to the river and threw
him away. The poor King was shocked and he didn’t know
the past also. The same happened seven times. Ganga gave
birth to seven boy children and he threw them away in
Ganges.

Shantanu fed up with this. He protested Ganga from doing
the same for the eighth child. So their promise was broken.
Ganga told her husband that she was living with that 8th
child. She promised to give him back after providing the
child with the best education possible.

Those eight children were the rebirths of Ashtavasus among
the eighth one was Prabhasa.

After some years, Ganga brought Bhishma to Shantanu and
asked him to live with his father.

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6. The Oath of Bhishma

Devavrita got the name Bhishma after he took a hard oath. Bhishma means the one
who takes hard pledges.

Once, there was a fisherman's daughter called Satyavati.

She had the smell of fishes. That was why she had another
name, Matsyagandhi (one who smells like fishes). She used §
to paddle boats for a living. One day, the great sage
Parashara traveled in her boat.

Both of them fell in love with them. Before
the departure, Parashara got rid of her smell
of fishes and gifted her with the smell of
musk. After that, she was called by the name
Kasthurigandhi (one who has the smell of
musk).

One day, Shantanu was traveling through the
forest for his usual hunting. He then felt a
beautiful smell of musk. He followed the
smell and it ended up in a beautiful girl. She
felt embarrassment see a man there. htto://www.hindutav.com/

7. Shantanu told her that he wanted to marry her and he was the King of Hastinapur.
But Kasthurigandhi was not obsessed with the royalty. She told him to see his
father.

Shantanu reached her home. Her father was there. Shantanu
presented the topic before him. The fisherman thought for a
while. At last, he agreed on a condition. Shantanu had to ma
Satyavathi's son the next King. If he was ready to do so, he
he had no issues with the marriage.

But Shantanu felt down after hearing this. He
never expected such a condition because
usually the eldest son made the King. Devavrita
was the eldest son of him. So, conventionally
Shantanu had to make him the next King.

He neither replied nor said anything. He and his .
Prime Minister returned to the palace. There

was his son in the palace. He noticed the lack of
usual charm on his father’s face. Devavrita

asked Shantanu what happened. But he didn’t “
reply. This made the son thought that the issue e
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8. So he asked the prime minister who accompanied Shantanu with the hunting and knew
everything from him. He was a dutiful son. He couldn’t let any wish of his father go fruitless.

Bhishma rode his horse to the home of that fisherman. He
talked with him. But the old crooked man never changed
his condition. Thus, Bhishma took an oath that he would
not be the King and would surely make the son of Satyavati
the successor of Shantanu.

But her father was not convinced still. He told Devavrita
that there was no point if his (Devavrita’s) desired the
throne. On hearing this, he made that epic pledge not to get
married.

Thus, the marriage between Bhishma and
Satyavathi happened. Some people blamed
Shantanu for this. But Bhishma said to all that it
was completely his decision not his father’s.
Shantanu’s ministers asked him about the future
of their Kingdom in case the upcoming King would
not be efficient. In reply, he took another vow to
serve the King of Hastinapur throughout his life
whoever be it was.

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9. time came for him to get married. Bhishma, who was vowed to serve the King,

abducted three princesses of Kashi, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika on the same day of
their Swayamvar. Many Kings fought with Bhishma in order to preve
abduction. But neither of them succeeded.

After reaching Hastinapur, Amba told Bhishma that she and
the ruler of Saubala, Salwa were in love. He also fought
with Bhishma at Kashi. Bhishma sent her back on hearing
this. She approached Salwa for marriage. He never rece?
her because of the humiliation he faced.

So Amba came back to Hastinapur again asking m
Bhishma to marry her. He couldn’t do it as he a y
was taken that oath. Bhishma told the same to à

her. She became furious. After that, she went = 7
near Parashurama for a solution. Parashurama

was the teacher of Bhishma. He asked to marry »

her. Bhishma replied that he could donate his

life also for his Guru but wouldn't break the
promise.

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10. After that, Parashurama challenged Bhishma for a battle. They decided to fight at Kurukshetra.
Bhishma stood in a chariot while Bhishma on the earth. The humble student requested him to
be in a chariot also. Parashurama then asked Bhishma to close his eyes once and see. He did it.
He could see Earth as the chariot, Vayu Deva as the charioteer, four Vedas as th es and

the Upanishads as reins.

Bhishma came down from his chariot and he sought the
permission to fight. Parashurama blessed him saying never broke
his promise as Parashurama was also doing the same. They
started the war. It lasted for long 23 days without any result. At
last, on the last day, Bhishma used Prashwapastra against him
which he learned to use in his previous birth (Prabhasa).

Parashurama didn’t know to defend it. So, he fell
asleep. And as a result, Bhishma won the battle.

Gods praised him, Parashurama blessed him and
he told Amba that Bhishma couldn’t be defeated.
She became angry to hear this. She made tough
penance to please Shiva. When the Lord appeared
before her, she asked the boon to be the killer of
Bhishma. Shiva granted the request in his next
birth as a eunuch named Shikhandi.

Here are some lesser known facts about Bhishma.
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13. Bhishma was Able to Stop the Flow of Ganges

Bhishma was the son of Goddess Ganga and Shantanu. 5
Devavrita was the name he got by birth. Being the son of
Ganga, he got the name Gangadatta. After that he took
that terrible oath which gifted him the name Bhishma.

Anyway, Ganga was protested by her husband not to
threw away their son the eighth time. So, it was time ®&
for Ganga to leave Shantanu and Hastinapur as well.
She told him that she was taking Devavrita with her.
Shantanu was sad to hear this.

So, Ganga consoled him saying that she would give
him back after giving her the best possible education
and teaching some moral values. She could get the
best ever teachers as she was a Goddess.

Years passed. Shantanu already forgot about his
son. One day, a young boy was spotyted who was
ceasing the flow of the river. People were eager
to see this. They exclaimed after seeing this.
Ganga was such a powerful river. One who could
be an obstacle to its flow was surely invincible.

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14. Shantanu also heard the news. He became angry at once.
Because, Ganga was his wife. That means, he loved her at
that time also no matter she left him with their son.

Shantanu took the weapons and rode his horse to the
place where the boy was located. He reached the
place. He also saw a young boy being an obstacle to
the flow of the river. There were many spectators to
see this.

Shantanu at once wore the bow and got ready for
the fight with him. He couldn’t see anyone
protesting his wife.

But at this time, Goddess Ganga appeared before
them. She told Shantanu that this 16 years old guy
wsa their son, Devavrita. She gave him to his
father.

Shantanu brought him to the palace.

15. He Decided the Time of His Death

No man can do this. But Bhishma could. It was his power.

After seeing the sadness of his father, he met the fisherman and
made his wish real. Shantanu was happy to see his son. Bhishma
sacrificed all his rights to fulfill the wish of his father.

Pleased Shantanu gave him a boon to death at his own wish.
Even if he was brutally attacked, the enemy couldn’t kill him
because of the boon. That was called Icha Mrityu.

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Bhishma fought bravely in the Kurukshetra war for 10 days. He
did his duty well to serve the King of Hastinapur. But Arjuna
fought with him making Shikhandi as a human shield. Bhishma
threw away his weapons saying that he couldn't fight with a
eunuch.

This time, Arjuna made use of the situation. Krishna very well N
knew that the ‚wo et an easy chance to defeat Bhishma —

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16. He lay on a bed of arrows. He had the power
to choose the time of death. Thus he decided
not to die at once, as it was Utharayana. That
period was considered not good to death. He
waited almost 58 days on the bed of arrows.

At last, he found the Way to heaven jte
58 days. That means after the beginningiof a
Utharayana Kala. Wr

17. Bhishma Hid from Gandhari that Dritarashtra was Blind

Gandhari was the princess of Gandhara Kingdom. She was
extremely beautiful.

Bhishma decide to get Dritarashtra married to Gandhari. He made
all the arrangements for it. But the only fact Gandhari knew was
her wanna be husband was the King of Hastinapur.

Bhishma cleverly hid the fact that Dritarashra was a blind man. He
wanted Gandhari to marry Bhishma through anyway. He afrai
that, Dritarashtra would not get any good woman because of
intrinsic disability. $ y a
Gandhari was shocked to see a blind man ‘on the wedding
Mandap. Anyway, there was no other choice for her than getting
married to him. It was a planned game by Bhishma. So Gandhari
became the wife of Bhishma.

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19. This is one of the most embarrassing
incidents in Mahabharata. The womanhood
was totally molested by this incident.

Yudhishtira, the elder brother of Pandava
was crazy about Gambling. He could kill as
many times as he could by playing dice.
One day, Duryodhana invited Yudhishtira
for Gambling. He thought it was a casual
invite for having fun.

But Duryodhana had a clear cut aim in
her mind. He invited Shakuni for playing
on behalf of him. Shakuni was the uncle
of Duryodhana. He knew every crooked
ways to win in gambling.

So they started rolling dice. Duryodhana
was happy to see her rival was getting
defeated. That was a sweet sight for him
to see.

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20. Yudhishtira couldn’t figure out the false
moves done by Shakuni. He believed that
his opponent won using the righteous
methods.

It was necessary to stake something after
the failure. Yudhishtira staked everything he
had including his palace at Indraprastha,
wealth and what else, his brothers also. At
last, he played again and ended up in
staking Panachali.

That was the moment Duryodhana waited
for. He sent Dussasana to bring Patchable to
the royal darbar. But she never came. She
sensed something wrong. Dussana told the
incidents. Then she asked him whether
Duryodhana staked her or himself first. He
replied that “himself”.

Draupadi was happy to hear this. She told
Dussasana that there was no right for
Duryodhana to stake her as he was already
staked.

CRIA ea

21. Dussasan coveyed this to Duryodhan.
He asked his brother to bring her there
by using any methods.

Dushasan went there angry and pulled
her hair. He dragged Panchali to the
palace. Then that brutal man started
undressing Panchali. The five brave
men (Pandava) couldn’t do anything
than standing dumb.

She cried for help. No one heard her.
Bhishma was the Pitamaha. He could
have rescued her. But he remained
silent. This was like supporting
Duryodhana for his evildoings.

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22. ri that Dritarashtra was Blind

Gandhari was the princess of Gandhara Kingdom. She was extremely beautiful.

Bhishma decide to get Dritarashtra married to Gandhari. He made all the arrangements
for it. But the only fact Gandhari knew was her wanna be husband was the King of
Hastinapur.

Bhishma cleverly hid the fact that Dritarashra was a blind man. He wanted Gandhari to
marry Bhishma through anyway. He afraid that, Dritarashtra would not get any good
woman because of that intrinsic disability.

Gandhari was shocked to see a blind man on the wedding Mandap. Anyway, there was no
other choice for her than getting married to him. It was a planned game by Bhishma. So
Gandhari became the wife of Bhishma.

After the marriage, she veiled her eyes with a shawl wrapping around her eyes. She
decided not to see things which were not visible to her husband. That was how Gandhari
started living in complete darkness.

Even though, Gandhari merged with Dritarashtra, it is interpreted that what Bhishma did
to Gandhari was cheating.

23. t Pandava while Lying on the Bed of Arrows

This is wonder news to hear. But yes, Bhishma did it.

I told you on a point above that Bhishma lay on the bed of arrows waiting for Utharayana
to come as it was the right time to die.

Pandava came to see her on the same night he fell. All of them were sad. They desperately
wanted to win the battle. But it was sad for them to fight against their Gurus and relatives.

This exactly was the feeling when they saw Bhishma. All of them were sad as they were
the cause of his fall.

After seeing him, Yudhishtira asked some doubts. Mainly, on the basis of human welfare.
He asked how the welfare of mankind could be achieved.

Bhishma had an answer for it. He said that chanting the names of Vishnu was the easiest
way to achieve the welfare of mankind. He advised Yudhishtira to chant Vishnu
Sahasranaam.

24. Lord Krishna Broke His Promise only Because of Bhishma

Duryodhana and Arjuna reached the same time to seek help from Krishna for the war. Both
of them sat near the Lord as he was sleeping. Krishna saw Arjuna as soon as he woke up.
Arjuna was sitting near the foot of him.

Thus, Arjuna was given the service of Krishna and Duryodhana was given his army. Both of
them were happy. Duryodhana was not happy at once. But Krishna took an oath not to take
any weapon during the war. This made the elder Kaurava pleasant. He thought the army is
far way better than unarmed Krishna.

So Krishna became the chariot driver of Arjuna. He only gave instructions and never took
weapon.

Kaurava army faced a heavy destruction one day. So Duryodhna attacked Bhishma with
sarcastic words. He blamed Pitamaha a lot. Bhishma was the great warrior. He even
defeated Parashurama. There were no one who could win over Bhishma.

So he put on his bow and went straight to Arjuna. And then, he started heavy firing of
arrows. Arjuna never expected this. He couldn’t resist the attack also. The spectators
thought it would be the final day in the life of Arjuna.

Bhishma broke his bow and shattered his armor. It was the time when Bhishma could have

Day ted has. ‘http://www.hindutav.com/

25. Lord Krishna Broke His Promise only Because of Bhishma

But Krishna couldn’t allow her devotee to death this way. Moreover, Arjuna was the
husband of his sister, Subhadra also.

Krishna forgot his promise at this point of time. He furious got down from the chariot with
Sudarshana chakra in his forefinger. Then there occurred a heavy battle between Bhishma
and Krishnan. Both of them had never thought of killing each other. Bhishma’s goal was to
defeat Arjuna while Krishna’s was the rescue of his ardent devotee.

At last, it happened. Krishna could be able to make Arjuna fled from theplace. At the end of
the day, Arjuna asked him whether breaking the promise was true or not. Then Krishna
replied that there was nothing wrong in breaking any promise to rescue the life of his
devotee.

26. Bhishma Knew when Pandavas were Tried to Kill

Duryodhana once tried to kill every members of Pandava family using a nasty trick.

He ordered his minister, Purochana to build a palace of wax at Varnavrita. The palace or
house was called by the name Lakshagriha. Duryodhana’s idea was to gift it to Pandava.
When they fell asleep in the palace, Purochana would fire it. Through this way he thought
he could have wiped off every single men of Pandava along with Panchali and Kunti,
thereby leaving no chance of threat from upcoming generations also.

The palace was getting ready. Vidura was the younger brother of Dritarashtra and Pandu.
He somehow happened to know this devilish idea of the elder Kaurava. He had the same
relations with Pandava as well as Kaurava. But we can sense that his love is more towards
pandava why because Kaurava did evil every time.

Anyway, Vidura informed this to Pandava. They thought te implement a trick. For that,

Vidura brought a miner there and he started creating a secret underground path from the
middle of the house to the outer world (somewhere near the Ganges).

27. Bhishma Knew when Pandavas were Tried to Kill

After the work of wax palace became completed, Duryodhana invited Pandava to live
there. They already knew the trick. Nonetheless, all of them were ready to go. But
waited some months in order to get the construction of the secret path completeted.
Then, they moved to the palace.

That was the time Duryodhana waited for. But Purochana couldn’t fire the palace with
Pandava in it. Instead, Pandava played a trick to stuck Purochana, his wife and five sons
in it and they fired it. Duryodhana thought that his enemies were killed. But they were
safe somewhere.

Bhishma also knew this. Yet, he never stopped Duryodhna from doing and nor
informed Pandavas. He decided Yudhishtira be the next King.

Bhishma did whatever he could to make Dritarashtra the King of Hastinapur. But he
eventually forgot his own decision to give throne to Yudhishtira.

28. Bhishma Knew when Pandavas were Tried to Kill

There were many strategic formations to master the war. It was not known by
everybody. Only some countable Maharathas like Karna, Bhishma, Drona, Aswathama,
Karna and Arjuna knew it. Abhimanyu knew how to enter into Padmavyuha. But he
had not any ideas about how could come out from it.

It was not an easy task to understand these formations. The so- called formations had
a common name, Vyuha. It was the decision of the commander of any army to build a

Vyuha or not. They had many benefits. Breaking Vyuhas were considered to be very
difficult.

29. Bhsihma Knew Every Single Warfare Formations

There were many strategic formations to master the war. It was not known by
everybody. Only some countable Maharathas like Karna, Bhishma, Drona, Aswathama,
Karna and Arjuna knew it. Abhimanyu knew how to enter into Padmavyuha. But he
had not any ideas about how could come out from it.

It was not an easy task to understand these formations. The so- called formations had
a common name, Vyuha. It was the decision of the commander of any army to build a
Vyuha or not. They had many benefits. Breaking Vyuhas were considered to be very
difficult.

Some of them were defensive while some others were attacking. Bhishma very well
knew how to construct and destruct the vyuhas as well. He was the best warrior of all
time being the rebirth of a celestial man, Prabhasa. He also had some divine weapons
unknown to many which he was given in the previous birth.

Bhishma created a Padmavyuha to protect every army man not to be killed and assure
the failure of Pandava. There were not many men in the Pandava army who knew how
to break and fight that strategic warfare formation.

30. Bhsihma Knew Every Single Warfare Formations

So, Abhimanyu became ready to fight. He went and fought like a lion. Kaurava army
trembled out of fear on seeing a younger boy fighting bravely. At last, he entered into
Padmavyuha and fought there. The time came for him to get off from it.

But Abhimanyu didn’t know it. Padmavyuha was a tricky formation. We have to use
some tricks to enter into and leave out of it. Abhimanyu never found a way to leave
out of it. As a result, he was killed.

Following is the list of formations.

Q Krauncha Vyuha: the crane-shaped formation of an army; forces are distributed to
form spanning wing-sides, with a formidable, penetrating center depicting the
stork's head and break.

U Sarpa Vyuha: winding snake formation.

Q Makara Vyuha: Crocodile Formation

Q Vajra Vyuha: Diamond or Thunderbolt Formation

31. Bhsihma Knew Every Single Warfare Formations

Q Padmavyuhaor the Chakra Vyuha : a winding, ever-rotating circular
formation; considered impenetrable during the Mahabharata age by all
warriors except Parasurama,Kripa,Arjuna,Bhishma,Karna,
Drona,Ashwatthama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Abhimanyu.
Abhimanyu, had learnt how to break into the formation (in the womb of
Subhadra) but not how to break out of it and is trapped inside in the
Mahabharata war.

Q) Sakata Vyuha: Cart Formation

A Shukar Vyuha: Pig Formation