Bāhlīka
Bāhlīka was the son of Pratīpa and the elder brother of Śantanu, the king who was the father of Bhīshma (Devavrata). He was king of the Bāhlīka country, the region of Bactria in the north-west of Bhārata. He was the eldest of the Kuru elders and one of the most senior warriors of the age of the Mahābhārata.
He was at Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya, at Kṛshṇa’s embassy to Hastināpura, and at the dice game. He fought on the Kaurava side at Kurukshetra. He is named a mahārathī (a great chariot warrior) of the Kaurava host. The Mahābhārata also tells of his śrāddha (the rite for the departed) and of his rising at the Gaṅgā.
Family
Bāhlīka was the son of Pratīpa and the elder brother of Śantanu. Bhīshma, the son of Śantanu, was a great warrior of immense standing and was the leading elder of the Kuru line. Bāhlīka chose to rule the far north-western kingdom of Bāhlīka rather than contend for the Kuru throne. He was thus both of Kuru blood and a king of a distant northern land.
The Udyoga Parva names Somadatta as his son, and Bhūriśravas as his grandson. This made him the forefather of one of the great Kuru warrior families.
At the Rājasūya
Bāhlīka came to Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya as part of the Kuru company. With him came Bhīshma, Droṇa, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Vidura, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāmā, Jayadratha, Somadatta, Bhūriśravas, Duryodhana, Karṇa, Śakuni and all the Kaurava princes. So great a gathering of kings, with one of the oldest living warriors among them, showed how historic Yudhishṭhira’s success was. (Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 34)
Among the Kuru elders
Bāhlīka belonged to the innermost circle of the Kuru elders with Bhīshma, Droṇa and Kṛpa. They were the military and moral backbone of the Kuru house, even as it moved toward disaster under Duryodhana. His standing came from his age and descent, and from being a great warrior in his own right. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva)
During Kṛshṇa’s embassy
Kṛshṇa came to Hastināpura as the ambassador of the Pāṇḍavas. He chose to dine at Vidura’s house and did not accept Duryodhana’s welcome. The Kuru elders then came to Vidura’s house to pay their respects. Bāhlīka came with Droṇa, Kṛpa and Bhīshma and visited Kṛshṇa in the evening. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapters 88–95)
In his great speech to Dhṛtarāshṭra in the Kaurava sabhā (assembly hall), Kṛshṇa named the warriors who made up Dhṛtarāshṭra’s host. They were Bhīshma, Droṇa, Kṛpa, Karṇa, Viviṃśati, Aśvatthāmā, Vikarṇa, Bāhlīka and others. Kṛshṇa did not give this as a reason for war. He asked Dhṛtarāshṭra to hold back his sons: with such warriors on both sides, no result of war could be called victory. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 95)
At the dice game
Bāhlīka was in the sabhā at both the first and the second dice games. During the vastraharaṇa (the disrobing of Draupadī) he was among the elders who wrung their hands in grief and dismay. They could not stop what was happening before them. The Sabhā Parva places him with Bhīshma, Droṇa, Kṛpa, Somadatta and Sañjaya among those who were present but were silenced by duty and royal command.
In the Anudyūta Parva, Bāhlīka is listed among those who openly opposed the second dice game and called for peace. He is called mahābuddhi (of great wisdom). Dhṛtarāshṭra gave way to Duryodhana’s pressure and overruled him. Bāhlīka was also present when Yudhishṭhira took leave of the assembly before the exile in the forest. (Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Dyūta Parva and Anudyūta Parva)
At Kurukshetra
Bāhlīka fought on the Kaurava side at Kurukshetra and was slain by Bhīmasena. In the Strī Parva, Gāndhārī walked among the fallen Kaurava warriors and stopped before Bāhlīka’s body. She spoke to Kṛshṇa:
“Kṛshṇa! There is Bāhlīka, son of King Pratīpa, a man of great pride and a great archer, struck down by a bhalla arrow, lying like a tiger in deep sleep.”
Gāndhārī said that even in death Bāhlīka’s face shone with great beauty, like the full moon rising on the night of the full moon. (Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapter 22)
The śrāddha
Before going to the forest, Dhṛtarāshṭra asked Yudhishṭhira’s leave to perform the śrāddha for Bāhlīka together with Bhīshma, Droṇa and Somadatta. Bhīmasena told Arjuna that he would gladly perform the rite for Bāhlīka himself, although he still felt anger over the dice game. Bāhlīka was named among the main receivers of the ten-day dāna-yajña (a yajña of giving) that followed. (Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 11 and 14)
Reunion at the Gaṅgā
At the Gaṅgā, Vyāsa called up the whole host of the fallen. Bāhlīka rose from the holy waters among the risen warriors, made young again and free of enmity. Somadatta rose with him. They had one night of reunion before he went back to his loka (world). (Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 32)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 34 (the Rājasūya)
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Dyūta Parva and Anudyūta Parva (the dice games)
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapters 88–95 (Kṛshṇa’s embassy, including Chapter 95)
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25, especially Chapter 22 (Gāndhārī’s lament)
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 11 and 14 (the śrāddha)
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 32 (the reunion at the Gaṅgā)