What was the age of bhishma when he died

His banner in battle was a golden palm tree. He was known as 'Bhishma Pitamaha' Pitamaha meaning the grandfather or grandsire among the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was a well known person for his knowledge in politics and many other subjects. He was a very good archer and he won a battle with his Guru Parshurama, who is otherwise unbeatable due to the influence of time and the relationship of God and devotee , after a battle which lasted 23 days.

Bhishma means He of the terrible oath, referring to his vow of lifelong celibacy. Originally named Devavratha, he became known as Bhishma after he took the bhishana pratigya 'terrible oath' — the vow of lifelong celibacy and of service to whoever sat on the throne of his father the throne of Hastinapur.

He took this oath so that his father, Shantanu could marry a fisherwoman Satyavati — Satyvati's father had refused to give his daughter's hand to Shantanu on the grounds that his daughter's children would never be rulers as Shantanu already had a son Devratha. This made Shantanu despondent and upon discovering the reason for his father's despondency, Devavratha sought out the girl's father and promised him that he would never stake a claim to the throne, implying that the child born to Shantanu and Satyavati would become the ruler after Shantanu.

At this, Satyavati's father retorted that even if Devavratha gave up his claim to the throne, his Devavratha's children would still claim the throne. Devavratha then took the vow of lifelong celibacy, thus sacrificing his 'crown-prince' title and denying himself the pleasures of conjugal love.

This gave him immediate recognition among the gods and his father granted him the boon of Ichcha Mrityu control over his own death — he could choose the time of his death, but he was not immortal, which would have been an even more severe curse and cause of suffering. There was a lot of criticism of King Shantanu from his subjects as to why he removed Bhishma from the title of the crown prince kings didn't have the power to remove a prince from the throne just as Bhishma could not deprive his unborn son from the throne so he decided to never have one as he was so capable, and if by any chance he did see some fault in him Bhishma ,what did he see in the prince who is not yet born Satyavati's son.

Hearing this, Bhishma said it was his decision and his father should not be blamed as Shantanu had never promised anything to Satyavati's father. The clan Guru then asked who would be held responsible if the future crown prince isn't capable enough. Bhishma then took another vow that he would always see his father's image in whoever sits on the King's throne and will serve him. In the process of finding a bride for his half-brother the young king Vichitravirya, Bhishma cleverly abducted princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika of Kashi Varanasi from the assemblage of suitors at their swayamvara.

Salwa, the ruler of Saubala, and Amba the eldest princess were in love. Upon reaching Hastinapura, Amba confided in Bhishma that she wished to wed Salva. Bhishma then sent her back to Salva who turned her down as it was humiliating for a man to accept a woman who had been so long in the company of another man.

Actually he had been embarrassed because Bhishma had defeated him very badly in the fight; he had been no match against the stronger Bhishma.

She then naturally approached Bhishma for marriage who refused her, citing his oath. Amba, humiliated and enraged beyond measure, vowed to avenge herself against Bhishma even if it meant being reborn over and over again.

Legend has it that at her maternal grandfather's suggestion Amba sought refuge with Parasurama who ordered Bhishma to marry Amba. Bhishma politely refused saying that he was ready to give up his life at the command of his teacher but not the promise that he had made. Upon the refusal, Parasurama called him for a fight at Kurukshetra.

At the battlegrounds, while Bhishma was on a chariot, Parasurama was on foot. Bhishma requested Parasurama to also take a chariot and armor so that Bhishma would not have an unfair advantage. Parasurama blessed Bhishma with the power of divine vision and asked him to look again.

When Bhishma looked at his guru with the divine eyesight, he saw the Earth as Parasurama's chariot, the four Vedas as the horses, the Upanishads as the reins, Vayu wind as the Charioteer and the Vedic goddesses Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati as the armor. Bhishma got down from the chariot and sought the blessings of Parashurama to protect his dharma, along with permission to battle against his teacher.

Parasurama was pleased and said to Bhishma that if he had not behaved in this manner, Parasurama would have cursed him, for it is the duty of warriors who fight against elders not to abandon the traditions of humility and respect for elders.

Parashurama blessed him and advised him to protect his dharma of brahmacharya as Parasurama himself must fight to fulfill his dharma of fighting to uphold his word as given to Amba. They fought for 23 days without conclusion — Parasurama was chiranjeevi immortal and Bhishma had a boon that let him choose the time of his death.

One version is, that on the 22nd night, Bhishma prayed to his ancestors to help him end the battle. His ancestors gave him a weapon named Prashwapastra which he knew from his previous birth as Prabhasa one of Ashta Vasus but forgot it in his present birth as Bhishma.

This weapon was not known to Parasurama. They told him that it would put Parasurama to sleep in the battlefield. A person who sleeps in the battlefield is considered to be dead as per Vedas. However the weapon was never used as devas warned him from the sky that "If He uses this weapon it would be a great insult towards his Guru. The spirit of Parashurama's father, Jamadagni and his grandfather, Rucheeka, spoke to him : - 38th. Heroism and courage in battle are the qualities of a Kshatriya, and study of the Vedas and the practice of austerities are the wealth of the Brahmans.

Previously you took up weapons to protect the Brahmans, but this is not the case now. Let this battle with Bhishma be your last. O son of the Bhrigu race, it is not possible to defeat Bhishma. In the end, the Gods showered praise on Bhishma, and he sought the blessing of Parashurama as his guru.

I have exerted now to the best of my power and might. However, Amba refused to listen to Parashurama's advice and left angrily declaring that she will achieve her objective by asceticism.

Her predicament unchanged, did severe penance to please Lord Shiva as he is most easily pleased and could give anything to anyone. Lord Shiva assured her that she would be born as a woman named Shikandi in her next birth and still she would recall her past and could be instrumental in Bhishma's death, thus satisfying her vow. Bhishma had stature and personality that in those times were fit for kings. He was a true Kshatriya as well as a disciplined ascetic - a rare combination.

Like a true Kshatriya, he never unnecessarily exhibited passion and anger. A symbol of truth and duty, the benevolent Bhishma was in all senses a true human. It is unfortunate that a person as noble as Bhishma saw a life full of loneliness, frustration and sadness. But that was how Vashishta's curse was supposed to unfold. Bhishma's human birth was destined to be marked with suffering, and that was how his life transpired right till the last moment; even his death was very painful.

But the strong as steel character, which he possessed ensured that he never shied away from his duty, and never stopped loving those dear to him. Bhishma was not only a good warrior, but also highly skilled in political science. He had all the qualities and abilities fit for an excellent king. His goodness and sacrifice made him one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna himself.

He tried his best to bring reconciliation between Pandavas and Kauravas to prevent the war. Even in the Kurukshetra war while he was the general he tried his best to keep the war low key by minimising confrontation between the two camps. Even as he fell he tried to use the opportunity to persuade both camps to put an end to the war.

After the war, while on his deathbed he gave deep and meaningful instructions to Yudhishthira on statesmanship and the duties of a king. In the great battle at Kurukshetra, Bhishma was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces for ten days compared to Drona's five, Karna's two and Shalya's one-the last day.

He fought reluctantly on the side of the Kauravas; nevertheless, he gave it his best effort. Each day he was killing around 10, soldiers of Pandavas. At one stage Arjuna's disinclination to fight him, nearly made Krishna break His vow not to raise a weapon in the war. Not even Arjuna was able to defeat Bhishma because in addition to being a peerless warrior he was blessed with choosing the moment of his death. In this war, Bhishma vowed not to kill any of the Pandavas, as he loved them, being their grandsire.

Duryodhan often confronted Bhishma alleging that he was not actually fighting for the Kaurava camp as he wouldn't kill any Pandava but would let them kill Kauravas. But in fact, Bhishma was the strongest barrier that had protected the Kaurava camp from impending defeat. The war was thus locked in a stalemate. As the Pandavas mulled over this situation, Krishna advised them to visit Bhishma himself and request him to suggest a way out of this stalemate.

Bhishma knew in his heart that the Pandavas were righteous and chaste, and that he stood as the greatest obstacle in their path to victory, so when they visited Bhishma, he told them that if faced by another gender that is a gender which has both features of a male and female in battle he would cease to fight and not lift weapons against her. The Pandavas were initially not agreeable to such a ploy, as by bringing such a gender to the battleground they would disgrace themselves, but Krishna suggested a clever alternative.

And thus, on the next day - the tenth day of battle - Shikhandi accompanied Arjuna on the latter's chariot and they faced Bhishma who put his bow and arrows down. He was then felled in battle by a reluctant, ashamed and tearful Arjuna pierced by innumerable arrows.

As Bhishma fell, his whole body was held above the ground by the shafts of Arjuna's arrows which protruded from his back, and through his arms and legs. Seeing Bhishma laid on such a bed of arrows humbled even the gods who watched from the heavens in reverence, silently blessing the mighty warrior. When the young princes of both armies gathered around him, inquiring if there was anything they could do, he told them that while his body lies on the bed of arrows above the ground, his head hangs unsupported.

Hearing this, many of the princes, both the Kaurava and the Pandava brought him pillows of silk and velvet, but he refused them. He asked Arjuna to give him a pillow fit for a warrior. Arjuna then removed three arrows from his quiver and placed them underneath Bhishma's head, pointed side upwards.

To quench the war veteran's thirst, Arjuna shot an arrow into the earth, and a jet stream of water rose up and into Bhishma's mouth. It is said that Ganga herself rose to quench her son's thirst. Bhishma was succeeded by Drona as the Commander-in-Chief. Bhishma lay on the 'bed of arrows' till the end of the battle for an interesting reason. Bhishma asked Krishna why he was suffering so much.

Krishna told him it was a result of his reticence and silence towards Draupadi's cheer-haran which was a maha-papam great Sin. Bhishma failed to act to protect Draupadi at a time of dire need.

Krishna further told him that the immediate time was not an auspicious time to leave the world. Thus, Bhisma, who delayed his death by his own will, now waited for the auspicious time, when the sun turns northward, to depart from the world.

One of his last acts was to impart his final instructions on administration and kingcraft to Yudhisthira. A few formations mentioned in the epic Mahabharata are listed. 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. Padmavyuha or the Chakra Vyuha: a winding, ever-rotating circular formation; considered impenetrable during the Mahabharata age by all warriors except Arjuna, Bhisma, Karna, Drona, 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. Sarpa Vyuha - Winding Snake Formation. Makara Vyuha - Crocodile Formation. Sakata Vyuha - Cart Formation.

Shukar Vyuha - Pig Formation. Their descendence was in the following generations 1. Maharaj Hastin founder of the Hastinapur empire 2. Many Generations 3. Many Generations. Bheeshma, Chitrangada, Vichitraveerya. But practically, Bhishma and the Pandavas would be four generations apart as Bhishma was himself a prince of marriageable age when his father Shantanu married Satyavati, so Chitrangad and Vichitravirya were more like sons than brothers to Bhishma.

When both Chitrangad and Vichitravirya died heirless, Maharshi Ved Vyas was called upon to revive the lineage. Then Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were born. The Pandavas and Kauravas were the next generation, so although addressed as grandfather, Bhishma was equivalent to their Great-Grandfather. When Bhishma died, he was the eldest living ancestor to the equivalent of 5 generations as the Pandavas themselves were grandparents.

Their only living heir was Parikshit, Arjuna's grandson, the son of Abhimanyu and Matsya princess Uttara. As the Kauravas were losing the battle, Duryodhana approached Bhishma one night and accused him of not fighting the battle to his full strength because of his affection for the Pandavas. Bhishma, greatly angered, immediately picked up five golden arrows and chanted mantras declaring, "Tomorrow I will kill the Pandavas with these five golden arrows.

Duryodhana, not having faith in Bhishma's words, asked Bhishma to give him custody of the five imbued golden arrows saying that he would keep them with him and return them the next morning. Long before, when Pandavas were in living in the forest. Duryodhana once came to the forest to flaunt his material opulence in contrast with the Pandavas who were living in exile due to his wicked usurption of their kingdom, thus displaying his venom and hubris.

He placed his camp on the opposite side of a pond where the Pandavas used to stay. Once, while he was taking bath in that pond, the heavenly princes, named Gandharvas, came to take a bath. Duryodhana could not tolerate this; he had a fight in which the Gandharvas captured him. On the request of Yudhisthir, Arjuna saved Duryodhana and set him free.

Duryodhana was ashamed, but being a kshatriya, he asked Arjuna what benediction or boon he would like. He was the son of Dronacharya. During the war, he fought for the Kauravas.

After the war was over, Yudhishthir was declared the king of Hastinapur. He ruled for 36 years. The Pandavas along with Draupadi then left for the Himalayas.

Happy Diwali Status in Hindi. Happy New Year Firework Gif. Happy New Year Gif. Happy New Year Wallpapers. Mbh: Adi parva , adhyaya slokas: Ganga thus married Santanu on the condition, agreed to by the latter, that he would not ever stop her from doing anything. Out of this marriage eight sons were born; seven of the sons Ganga drowned in the river much to the dismay of Santanu. When Ganga tried to drown the eighth son, Santanu stopped her.

Ganga reminded Santanu of his pledge, and left him. Mbh: Adi parva : adhyaya slokas : The epic further revealed that this son was Dyaus Vasu and that Vashistha had said that he would be a mahatma, and that there would be no one like him on earth: he would be dharmic , learned in all the shastras , a favourite of his father, and would give up sexual contact with women.

This son grew up to be called Devavrata and Gangeya. Mbh: Adi parva : adhyaya sloka : One day, he found that his father was forlorn and uninterested in everything.

The father agreed in principle but he put forward one condition. He said that Santanu would have to agree to make the son that would be born from this marriage as his successor to the throne. Santanu could not agree to this condition and hence his lovelorn state. On learning this Devavrata proceeded with an entourage to seek out the fisherman. In the presence of all his companions, he made two promises to the fisherman. One was that he would never ascend the throne; and second that he would take the pledge of brahmacharya , and thus remain celibate all his life so there would be no sons who could claim the throne.

On hearing these promises, the fisherman agreed to give his daughter to Santanu as a bride. The sacrifice that these promises contained impressed even the inhabitants of paradise, who rained flowers and declared that henceforward Devavrata would be known as Bhishma.

Death will come to you only with your permission. Bhishma, even as a young man, was a unique individual. He had agency over death — the one thing that is inevitable in life. The power to die only when he wished to die is only a step behind immortality since theoretically Bhishma may not have wanted to die. There is an interplay here between agency and predestination.

All these had been pre-scripted for him. But he had control over what was inevitable for all humans. Death would come to Bhishma only when summoned by Bhishma. This is an important point because Bhishma had no blood ties with Dhritarashtra. Because of his position and because he was a warrior par excellence , Bhishma was the natural first choice to lead the Kaurava troops at Kurukshetra.

In the very beginning of this parva — in fact even before the description of the battle has begun —- a downcast Sanjaya brings to Dhritarashtra the news that Bhishma is nihata. Mbh: Bhishma parva : adhyaya slokas: This raises two problems. Kaliprasanna Sinha, who, in the second half of the nineteenth century, translated the epic into Bengali prose taking it sloka by sloka not only recognised this problem but addressed it in a footnote.

Sinha wrote that on hearing the news that Bhishma was nihata , a surprised Dhritarashtra asked Sanjaya to narrate to him the details of the battle. Hence the first sloka of the Bhagavad Gita. Thus, according to Sinha, the announcement anticipates the Gita Sinha: i: The issue becomes more complicated as the narrative progresses and readers are presented with a graphic description of the battle on the tenth day of the war.

The epic says on that day, pierced by arrows all over his body — the arrows left a space of only two fingers between them — Bhishma contemplated that this was the right moment to die and the rishis and the vasus in the sky concurred with him Mbh: Bhishma parva : adhyaya ; slokas : He continued to fight a little longer but soon fell from his chariot.