Mahābhisha and Āpava

These two linked accounts from the Mahābhārata explain how Bhīshma came to be born. The Mahābhishopākhyāna tells how King Mahābhisha of the Ikshvāku line received a śāpa (a curse) from Brahmā, and how Gaṅgā chose to come down to earth to be his wife. The Āpavopākhyāna tells how the ṛshi Vasishṭha, also called Āpava, gave a śāpa to the eight Vasus for stealing his divine cow Nandinī.

Seven of the Vasus were to be born and leave the world quickly as the sons of Gaṅgā. The eighth, Dyau, was to live long and have no children. Bhīshma is that eighth Vasu, born as the son of Śāntanu and Gaṅgā.

The śāpa on Mahābhisha

Mahābhisha was a great king of the Ikshvāku line. He had performed many yajñas (fire rituals) and gathered so much puṇya (merit) that he was admitted to the court of Brahmā. He sat in Brahmā’s sabhā (assembly) with the devas, the gandharvas and the great ṛshis.

One day Gaṅgā, the sacred river and devī, came into Brahmā’s court. As she passed, a gust of divine wind moved her garments. All the devas and ṛshis looked away out of respect. Mahābhisha was overcome by her beauty. He gazed at her steadily with desire. Gaṅgā, for her part, also felt drawn to him.

Brahmā saw this and was displeased. Mahābhisha had earned his place in the divine court through great tapas (austerity) and righteous deeds. Now he had fallen into desire, which did not suit a being in Brahmā’s presence. Brahmā gave him a śāpa: he must be born again among humans.

Mahābhisha accepted the śāpa with humility. He was asked to choose his parents for the next birth. He chose Pratīpa, a virtuous king of the Kuru line, as his father. In this way the śāpa led straight to his rebirth as Śāntanu, the father of Bhīshma.

Gaṅgā decides to come down

Gaṅgā had seen Mahābhisha receive the śāpa, and she felt her own attachment to him. She decided that she too would go down to earth. She would become his wife in that life and bear him the son he was meant to have, for events were already in motion.

On her way down she met the eight Vasus. They were coming down in grief and fear, newly cursed by Vasishṭha. They asked her to become their mother in the human world. They asked her to bear them as sons and to free them quickly from life on earth by casting them into the river as soon as they were born. Gaṅgā agreed, and the terms were set.

Vasishṭha and the Vasus

The ṛshi Vasishṭha is known here by the name Āpava, which means “born of water”, because he was the son of Varuṇa. He lived in a peaceful āśrama (hermitage) on the slope of Meru. With him lived his divine cow Nandinī. She was a descendant of Surabhi and fulfilled wishes, and she had great power.

One day the eight Vasus came to Meru with their wives. The names given for the Vasus are Dhara, Dhruva, Soma, Āpa, Anila, Anala, Pratyūsha and Prabhāsa. The Vasu who stood for the sky was Dyau. His wife was Jiṭavatī, a woman of great beauty and strong desires. She was the daughter of a king named Uśīnara.

Jiṭavatī saw Nandinī and wanted her at once. She asked Dyau to get the cow for her. She wanted to give Nandinī to a human friend on earth, the daughter of Uśīnara, who had heard of the cow’s powers and longed for her.

Dyau said that stealing from a great ṛshi was adharma (wrong) and would bring heavy results. Jiṭavatī pressed him. To please his wife, Dyau persuaded the other seven Vasus, and together they took Nandinī from Vasishṭha’s āśrama.

When Vasishṭha came back and found Nandinī gone, he looked with his divine sight and saw what had happened. He was filled with righteous anger. He gave all eight Vasus a śāpa: they would be born among humans, the lowest birth for divine beings.

The śāpa is softened

The Vasus went to Vasishṭha at once. They bowed down before him and asked forgiveness. His anger softened, and he changed the śāpa.

Seven of the Vasus had only gone along with Dyau’s plan. They would be born as humans, but they would be freed from life on earth very soon. They would die as infants.

Dyau had planned the theft and carried it out himself. He would live a long life among humans. As a further part of the śāpa, he would have no children of his own and would live in celibacy. A long life without a family and children was the penalty for the one who bore the greatest blame.

The Vasus and Gaṅgā

Knowing their fate, the Vasus went down and found Gaṅgā on her way to earth. They begged her: “Become our mother. As soon as each of us is born, cast us into your own waters, so that we are freed from life on earth at once. As for the one who will live long and never have children, bear him with care.”

Gaṅgā agreed. She would marry Śāntanu, who was Mahābhisha born again, and bear eight sons. Seven she would cast into the water at birth, sending them quickly back to the divine world. The eighth was Dyau born again. She would keep him alive and in time give him back to his father.

This agreement between Gaṅgā and the Vasus was the reason for what looked, to human eyes, like a terrible deed. Śāntanu had agreed not to question Gaṅgā. He watched seven sons go into the water. Then, when the time came, Gaṅgā told him everything and gave the eighth child, Devavrata, who is Bhīshma, back to him.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, chapters 96–99