PDE Mahabharata: Bhishma at the Swayamvara

Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Guide. In the Ramayana you saw how Rama won Sita by competing in a swayamvara contest. In this episode, you will see how Bhishma takes the three daughters of the king of Kashi to be brides for the young son of Shantanu and Satyavati, but he does not participate in a contest; instead, he seizes the women in battle.

Image: The picture below is from an illustration edition of the Mahabharata in Hindi; it shows the moment when Bhishma has taken the three brides and is fighting off the other suitors.

Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). [700 words] You can find out more about the author at this blog post: Sister Nivedita.

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Devavrata | 5. Bhishma at the Swayamvara | Amba

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It came to pass that when Bhishma's father, Shantanu, was dead, Bhishma set on the throne his own half-brother, Vichitravirya. And it was necessary that he should find a suitable marriage for this brother in order that the royal succession might be duly secured. And he heard that the bridal choice of the three daughters of the king of Benares — Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika — was about to take place, and that all the kings and princes of the earth were bidden, their father having announced that his daughters should have for their dowry the courage of the bravest knight. So they were to be borne away by that prince whose unaided might should win them from all the rest.

Nor did the king of Benares dream, when he made this announcement, that his eldest daughter Amba was already secretly betrothed to a certain king, Shalwa by name, nor did the princess think it necessary to speak to her father of the matter, for she made sure that her true love, strengthened by her faith and the sure prospect of immediate happiness, would overbear all obstacles and, displaying his prowess before the whole assembled world, would carry her off as the prize of victory. But alas! When Bhishma heard of this bridal tournament he decided that the opportunity was an excellent one to secure suitable queens for the young Vichitravirya, and he determined to seize the three maidens and do combat for them against all comers.

In accordance with this purpose, therefore, Bhishma set out for the city of Benares as a simple gentleman without a retinue. Arriving at the royal lists, he beheld the three maidens, all unrivaled for beauty and richly robed and ornamented, and before them, ranged on thrones and in cars, under royal umbrellas and pearl-embroidered canopies, each with his proper cognizance blazoned on his banner, all the greatest of the earth. For a moment the prince paused to survey the scene; then, with a voice that was like the roaring of a lion, he sounded three times the great battle-cry that was to summon his rivals to mortal combat.

"Bhishma, son of Shantanu, seizes these maidens. Let who will rescue them! By force do I seize them, from amongst men before your very eyes!" No one could stir while the challenge was being sounded, and as for the third time the cry died away Bhishma's charioteer, in the twinkling of an eye, turned his battle-chariot and swiftly drove down upon that part of the lists where the three princesses waited surrounded by their ladies. It was not a moment before their attendants had been made to place them on Bhishma's car, with a line of his servants drawn up in front of them, and even while the great counter-challenge was ringing out on all sides, and angry kings had risen, with swords unsheathed, to leap to chariot or elephant or horseback, as the case might be, he stood alert and smiling, with bow drawn and his back to the royal maidens, ready to do battle for his prize against a world in arms.

Never had there been an archer like Bhishma. With a shower of arrows he stopped the rush that came upon him from all sides at once. His part was like that of Indra fighting against the crowds of asuras. Laughingly with his blazing darts did he cut down the magnificent standards, all decked with gold, of the advancing kings. In that combat he overthrew their horses, their elephants, and their charioteers, each with a single arrow, till, seeing how light was the hand and how true was the aim of Bhishma, son of Shantanu, all the kings of the earth broke ranks and accepted their defeat. And he, having vanquished so many sovereigns, retained his royal prize of three princesses, and escorted them back to Hastinapura, the royal city, to the queen-mother Satyavati, that they might become the brides of her son Vichitravirya the king.

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Devavrata | Bhishma at the Swayamvara | Amba

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Bhishma abducts the three princesses.

PDE Mahabharata: Amba

Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Guide. Bhishma brings back three women to be the wives of Vichitravirya, but as it turns out only two of them will become brides to the young king. The third woman, Amba, has a story of her own, and in a future incarnation she will become part of Bhishma's life once again near the end of the epic.

Note that in this version of the story, Amba's beloved is called "the king of the Shalwas," while he was called "King Shalwa" in the other version. As you will see, it is often the case that the kings are known in the epics by the name of their kingdom, and so are queens and princesses. For example, in the Ramayana, Kaikeyi grew up in the Kekaya kingdom, which is how she got her name.

Image: The depiction of Amba below is a shadow puppet from Java in Indonesia, and the Mahabharata is a favorite topic of the Javanese wayang theater tradition; you can read more at Wikipedia.

Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). [800 words]

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Swayamvara | 6. Amba | Dhritarashtra and Pandu

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As the wedding-day itself drew near, Amba, the eldest of the three princesses, sought an audience of Bhishma, the guardian of the imperial house, and with much shyness and delicacy disclosed to him the fact of her prior betrothal to the king of the Shalwas. It seemed to her a far from noble deed that she should marry one man while secretly longing, she said, for another, and so she was allowed to leave Hastinapura and proceed to the capital of the king of the Shalwas.

And when she reached the city of the Shalwas, she came before the king and said simply to him, "I have come, O king. Here I am."

But some blindness and perversity had come upon the king of the Shalwas. Perhaps he was really angry and mortified by his defeat at the hands of Bhishma. Perhaps at first his attitude was taken half in play and gradually grew more and more bitter and earnest. Or perhaps — and this seems the most likely — he was indeed an unknightly man, and the girl had done ill to trust him. In any case, he proved utterly unworthy of the great and faithful love of the Lady Amba. Though she made her feeling clear over and over again with a sincerity that all her life after it made her hot to remember, he showed not the slightest affection for her, but turned away from her, casting her off, say the chronicles, as a snake discards his old skin, with no more feeling of honor or of affection.

And when the maiden, eldest daughter of the king of Benares, at last understood that this was King Shalwa's intention, her heart was filled with anger, and in the midst of her tears of sorrow and pride she rose and said, "Though thou dost cast me off, O king, righteousness itself will be my protection, for truth cannot be defeated!"

And with these words she turned, crying softly, and haughtily went forth from the city. Suffering the deepest humiliation as she was, and scarcely knowing where to turn, the royal maiden for that night took refuge in one of the great forest-hermitages.

Rejected on two sides — for she could not now return to Hastinapura — and too proud to ask shelter in the home of her childhood, there was nothing before the royal maiden save a life of austerity and penance. And gradually, as she grew calm and took the help and advice of the old sages of the ashram, her mind began to settle on Bhishma as the source and root of her woes, and the destruction of Bhishma gradually became the motive to which all her self-severities were to be directed.

From this time her course of conduct became extraordinary. Month after month she would fast and undergo penances. Beauty and charm became nothing in her eyes. Her hair became matted and she grew thinner and thinner. For hours and days she would stand in stillness and silence as if she had been made of stone.

At last Shiva, the Great God, appeared before her, drawn by the power of her prayers and penances, and standing over her with the trident in his hand, he questioned her as to the boon she sought.

"The defeat of Bhishma!" answered Amba, bowing joyfully at his feet, for she knew that this was the end of the first stage in the execution of her purpose.

"Thou shalt slay him," said the Great God.

Then Amba, filled with joy, and yet overcome with amazement, said, "But how, being a woman, can I achieve victory in battle? It is true that my woman's heart is entirely stilled. Yet I beg of thee, O thou who hast the bull for thy cognizance, to give me the promise that I myself shall be able to slay Bhishma in battle!"

Then answered Shiva, "My words can never be false. Thou shalt take a new birth and some time afterwards thou shalt obtain manhood. Then thou shalt become a fierce warrior, well skilled in battle, and remembering the whole of thy present life, thou thyself, with thine own hands, shalt be the slayer of Bhishma." And having so said, the form of Shiva disappeared from before the eyes of the assembled ascetics and the Lady Amba there in the midst of the forest ashram.

But Amba proceeded to gather wood with her own hands, and made a great funeral pyre on the banks of the Yamuna, and then, setting a light to it, she herself entered into it, and as she took her place upon the throne of flame she said over and over again, "I do this for the destruction of Bhishma! To obtain a new body for the destruction of Bhishma do I enter this fire!"

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Swayamvara | Amba | Dhritarashtra and Pandu

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Amba, a Javanese shadow puppet.

PDE Mahabharata: Arjuna and Shiva

Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Guide. Arjuna, meanwhile, goes on another series of solo adventures. The first time he went out on his own was because of the exile imposed when he violated Draupadi's private time with Yudhishthira; this time, he will go out on his own to acquire the weapons the Pandavas will need at the end of their exile when they will, once again, have to face the jealous Duryodhana and his brothers. Arjuna is the son of the god Indra, but the god Shiva will also play a very important role in his life, as you will see below.

Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). [700 words]

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Krishna's Visit | 43. Arjuna and Shiva | Indraprastha

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A holy man came to visit the retreat of the brothers and said to Yudhishthira, "Thou art troubled, O king, about the rival strength of thy friends and thy foes. For that have I come to thee. There is none in the world who can defeat thy brother Arjuna if once he betakes himself to the mountains and obtains the vision of the Great God. By his hand are all thine enemies destined to be slain. Let Arjuna go to the mountains, and there alone let him fast and pray."

Arjuna, therefore, thus selected, took vows of austerity, promising to be turned aside by nothing that he might meet, and set out for the Himalayas. Passing through the thick forests, he soon reached the very breast of the mountains and established himself there, amidst trees and streams, listening to the songs of birds and surrounded by fair blossoms, to practice his vow of prayer, vigil, and fast. Clad in scant clothes made of grass and deer-skin, he lived upon withered leaves and fallen fruits, and month after month he reduced his allowance of these till in the fourth month he was able to live on air alone, taking no other food whatever. And his head looked like lightning because of his constant bathing and purification, and he could stand day after day with arms upraised without support, till the earth began to smoke and the heavenly beings to tremble from the heat of Arjuna's penance.

One day, as he performed his morning worship, offering flowers to a little clay image of the Great God, a boar rushed at him, seeking to slay him. And Arjuna, in whom the instincts of the soldier and the sportsman were ever uppermost, seized his bow and arrows and rose from his worship to kill the creature. At that moment the forests had grown strangely and solemnly still. The sound of springs and streams and birds had suddenly stopped. But Arjuna, with his mind still on his half-finished worship, did not notice this. Stringing his bow, he shot an arrow and hit the boar.

At the self-same instant the beast was struck by another dart, seemingly as powerful, and with a roar he fell and died. But in Arjuna the wrath of a sportsman had blazed up, and apparently in his unknown rival also, each to find his own shot interfered with at the last moment. For there stood towering above him, as angry as himself, a huntsman, seemingly some king of the mountain tribes, accompanied by his queen and a whole train of merry followers. His form was blazing with energy, and he was saying, "How dared you shoot? The quarry was mine!"

"Let us fight for it!" said Arjuna, and the two began to turn their arrows on each other. To the mortal's amazement, the body of the huntsman swallowed up his darts without seeming any the worse, and Arjuna could only shoot till his quiver was empty.

"Let's wrestle then!" he cried, and threw himself upon his opponent. He was met by the touch of a hand on his heart, and instead of continuing his combat he turned at once to finish his worship.

Taking up a garland of flowers, he threw it about the image, but the next instant it was on the neck of the mountain king. "Great God! Great God!" cried Arjuna, falling in a rapture at the feet of his unlooked-for guest. "Pardon thou my blows!"

But the Great God, well pleased, put out his hand and blessed his worshipper and granted him the boon of divine weapons, such as could be hurled by the mind, by the eyes, by words, and by the bow. Never should such weapons be used till all others had been exhausted. Never should they be used against feeble foes. For so they might in truth destroy the universe. Then the Great God gave to Arjuna Gandiva, the divine bow, and, blessing him, turned and left that mountain with its vales and caves and snowy heights, and went up into the sky with all his train.

Such was the Kirat-Arjuna, Arjuna's vision of Mahadeva, the Great God, as a Kirata, or huntsman.

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Krishna's Visit | Arjuna and Shiva | Indraprastha

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Arjuna receives the Pashupata from Shiva.

PDE Mahabharata: Karna and Indra

Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Guide. When Karna was born, his body was clad in golden armor and he had earrings that were a token of invincibility. Indra, Arjuna's father, is anxious to protect him from Karna, so Surya warns Karna that Indra will try to take his celestial armor and earrings. Indra does indeed manage to take these from Karna, but Karna will get something in return.

Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). [400 words]

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Gandharvas | 48. Karna and Indra | Jayadratha

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Now all the sons of Kunti had had gods for their fathers, and Arjuna's father was Indra. And Indra, seeing that Karna wore natural armor and earrings, became anxious for the protection of Arjuna. For it was ordained in the nature of things that one of these two must slay the other.

And it was known of Karna that, at the moment when after bathing he performed his morning worship of the sun, there was nothing that he would not, if asked, give away to a mendicant. Indra, therefore, one day, taking the form of a brahmin, stood before him at this hour and boldly demanded his armor and earrings.

But Karna would not easily part with the tokens of invincibility. Smiling, he told the brahmin again and again that these things were part of himself. It was impossible, therefore, for him to part with them. But when the suppliant refused to be satisfied with any other boon, Karna suddenly turned upon him and said, "Indra, I know thee! From the first I recognized thee! Give me something in exchange, and thou shalt have my armor and earrings!"

And Indra answered, "Except only the thunderbolt, ask what thou wilt!"

Then said Karna, "One invincible dart! In exchange I give thee my armor and earrings."

And Indra answered, "Done! I give thee, O Karna, this dart called Vasava. It is incapable of being baffled, and thrown by me returns to my hand to slay hundreds of enemies. Hurled by thee, however, it will slay but one powerful foe. And if, maddened by anger, while there still remain other weapons or while thy life is not in deadly peril, shoot this arrow, it will rebound and fall upon thyself!"

Then taking the blazing dart, Karna, without wincing, began to cut off his own coat of natural armor and his own living earrings, and handed them to the brahmin. And Indra, taking them, ascended with a smile to Heaven. And news went about that Karna was no longer invicible. But none knew of the arrow of death that he treasured, to be used once upon a single deadly foe.

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Gandharvas | Karna and Indra | Jayadratha

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Karna and Indra.

PDE Mahabharata: Death of Drona

Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Guide. One of the great moral crises of the Battle of Kurukshetra has to do with the death of Drona: the Pandavas resort to trickery in order to bring about their old guru's demise.

Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). [400 words]

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Ghatotkacha | 65. Death of Drona | Duhshasana

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As long as Ashwatthaman, the son of Drona, lived, it came to be believed that his father would never be conquered, for his love and hope for his son were sufficient to keep him filled with courage and energy. Bhima, therefore, being bent on the defeat of Drona, selected an elephant named Ashwatthaman and slew it with his own hands and then threw himself in his might on the Kuru front in the neighborhood of Drona, shouting, "Ashwatthaman is dead! Ashwatthaman is dead!"

Drona heard the words, and for the first time his stout heart sank. Yet not easily would he accept the news that was to be his death-blow. Unless it was confirmed by Yudhishthira, who was, he said, incapable of untruth, even for the sovereignty of the three worlds, he would never believe that Ashwatthaman was dead.

Making his way then to Yudhishthira, Drona asked him for the truth, and Yudhishthira answered in a clear voice, "Yes, O Drona! Ashwatthaman is dead!" And this he said three times. But after the word Ashwatthaman he said indistinctly each time the words "the elephant." These words, however, Drona did not hear. And up to this time the horses and wheels of Yudhishthira's chariot had never touched the earth. But after this untruth they came down a hand's-breadth and drove along the ground.

Then Drona, in his despair for the loss of his son, became unable to think of his divine weapons. Seeing, then, that the time had come, he charged the great bowmen who were about him as to how they were to conduct the battle, and laying down his own weapons, he sat down on the front of his chariot fixing his mind on itself.

At that very moment Dhrishtadyumna, the Pandava general, had seized his sword and leapt to the ground in order to attack Drona in personal combat. But before he touched him the soul of the Kuru general had gone forth, and to the few who had vision it appeared for a moment as if the sky held two suns at once. But none parried the blow of Dhrishtadyumna. The uplifted sword fell and cut off Drona's head, which was at once raised from the ground by his supposed slayer and tossed like a ball into the midst of the Kuru hosts. For a moment it seemed as if the army would break and flee. Then darkness came on, and wearily and mournfully all departed to their quarters.

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Ghatotkacha | Death of Drona | Duhshasana

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Death of Drona.