Bhīshma’s Vow

Bhīshma’s great vow gave him the name by which he is known. It is told in the Sambhava Parva of the Ādi Parva of the Mahābhārata. King Śāntanu fell in love with Satyavatī, the daughter of the fisherman chief Dāśarāja. Her father refused to give her in marriage unless her sons, and not Śāntanu’s son Devavrata, would be heirs to the throne. Devavrata gave up his own right to the throne. Then he took a fearsome vow of brahmacarya (lifelong celibacy), so that no children of his could ever challenge Satyavatī’s sons. The devas and gandharvas rained flowers and called him Bhīshma, “he of the terrible vow”. As a reward, his father Śāntanu gave him a vara (boon): icchāmṛtyu, death only at a time of his own choosing.

Śāntanu and Satyavatī

In his later years, after Gaṅgā had taken Devavrata away and brought him back, Śāntanu used to walk along the Yamunā. One day he noticed a scent of unusual sweetness drifting in the air. He followed it to the river bank and found where it came from. It was a young woman of shining beauty who rowed the ferry across the Yamunā.

She was Satyavatī, the daughter of Dāśarāja, a chief of the fishermen. As a child she had been found in the belly of a fish and raised by the fishermen. Her body gave off a scent like no other, and she had a radiance that was clearly not of common birth. She was in fact the daughter of the king Uparicara Vasu and the apsarā Adrikā, but she was raised among fishermen.

Śāntanu fell deeply in love with her. He went to Dāśarāja to ask for her hand. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 100)

Dāśarāja’s condition

Dāśarāja welcomed Śāntanu with respect, for he knew who the king was. But he set a condition. He would give Satyavatī to Śāntanu only if it was agreed that the sons born of Satyavatī, and not Devavrata, would inherit the Kuru throne.

Devavrata was already the crown prince. He was a young man of rare ability, born of the divine Gaṅgā herself, and trained by Vasishṭha and Paraśurāma. He was known as the best warrior and the most learned young man in the kingdom. If Satyavatī’s sons were to have any standing, Devavrata’s first place had to be set aside by agreement.

Śāntanu could not agree. Devavrata had done nothing wrong and deserved the throne. He left in sorrow, unwilling to take away his son’s right for the sake of his own love. But his grief showed, and he could not hide it. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 100)

Devavrata gives up the throne

Devavrata saw that his father was sad and would not say why. He asked Śāntanu’s charioteer and learned the whole matter: Satyavatī, Dāśarāja, and the condition.

Devavrata went straight to Dāśarāja without telling his father. He told the fisherman chief that he gave up his right to the Kuru throne of his own will. He would never be king. Satyavatī’s sons would rule.

Dāśarāja heard this with approval, but he was not yet satisfied. He said: “You yourself give up the throne. But what of your sons? If you marry and have children, they may one day challenge the sons of Satyavatī’s sons for the throne. I cannot be sure of peace for my daughter’s line.”

This was a far-reaching worry. Devavrata saw at once what was being asked of him. He made the second and harder part of his vow. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 100)

The Bhīshma Pratijñā

Standing before Dāśarāja, Devavrata took an oath in front of all who were there:

“I shall never marry. I shall never have children. I shall keep complete brahmacarya for my whole life. The Kuru throne shall belong to Satyavatī’s sons and their descendants. I bind myself by this vow before all witnesses.”

Every being in the three worlds who heard of this vow was astonished. To give up the throne is possible for an honourable man. But to give up marriage and children, to cut off one’s own line, to choose to die without descendants, and to give up the deep human wish for a family to carry on, was a giving up of a far higher kind.

The devas and gandharvas rained flowers from the sky. A voice from the sky said that this young man’s vow was terrible in its completeness. It gave him the name Bhīshma, “he of the fearsome (bhīshaṇa) vow”. Devavrata had become Bhīshma. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 100)

Śāntanu’s vara: icchāmṛtyu

When Śāntanu learned what his son had done, not for his own gain but only for his father’s happiness, he was filled with grief and thanks together.

He called Devavrata to him. He said that he wished to give a vara (boon) as great as what Devavrata had given up. He gave him icchāmṛtyu: the power to die only when he himself chose to die. No weapon, no disease, and no turn of events would take Bhīshma’s life without his own consent. He would live until the moment he decided to let his life go. This was one of the rarest boons ever given. It would let Bhīshma do his duty of guarding the Kuru line through the many years to come.

Bhīshma bowed before his father and received the vara with thanks. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 100)

Bhīshma after the vow

After the vow, Bhīshma served the Kuru court as its mightiest protector. He received further training from Paraśurāma himself, the great Bhārgava warrior and ṛshi (seer). Later Paraśurāma came to challenge him over a matter involving Ambā, and Bhīshma fought him to a standstill. The two were counted as equals in the highest kinds of war.

Vichitravīrya later died without heirs, and Bhīshma, bound by his vow, would not take his place. So Vyāsa was called for the niyoga (a union for the sake of an heir), and from it came Dhṛtarāshṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 100)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapter 100