Bāhlīka
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.
The Agni Purāṇa names him Bāhlika in its account of the Kuru vaṃśa, which Agni Deva tells Vasishṭha Maharshi, and gives Somadatta as his son and Bhūri, Bhūriśravas and Śala as Somadatta‘s sons.
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.
Per Agni Purāṇa, the Kuru line runs from Suratha, each king the son of the one before: Vidūratha, Ṛsha, Bhīmasena, Pratīpa and Śantanu. Then three sons were born to Śantanu: Devāpi, Bāhlika and Somadatta. To Bāhlika was born Somadatta, and to Somadatta were born Bhūri, Bhūriśravas and Śala. The same chapter says that to Śantanu in Gaṅgā was born Bhīshma. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 278)
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)
Per Bhāgavata Purāṇa
His line. Śrī Śuka Maharshi tells King Parīkshit that Pratīpa, son of Dilīpa, had three sons: Devāpi, Śantanu and Bāhlika. Devāpi gave up the royal authority and went to the forest. Bāhlika had a son, Somadatta, and Somadatta had three sons: Bhūri, Bhūriśravas and Śala. To Śantanu, in Gaṅgā, Bhīshma was born.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 22
With the Kuru elders. When Akrūra went to Hastināpura, he saw Dhṛtarāshṭra, Bhīshma, Vidura and Kuntī, and also Bāhlīka and his son Somadatta, Kṛpācārya, Droṇa and Aśvatthāmā, Karṇa, Duryodhana, the Pāṇḍavas and other kinsmen. When Balarāma came to Hastināpura for Sāmba, Uddhava, sent ahead as messenger, bowed as is proper to Dhṛtarāshṭra, Bhīshma, Droṇa and Bāhlika, and to Duryodhana, and told them that Balarāma had come.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapters 49, 68
At the Rājasūya. Dharmarāja invited Droṇa, Bhīshma, Kṛpācārya, Bāhlīka and others to his Rājasūya, with Dhṛtarāshṭra and his sons and Vidura. At that great yajña Yuyudhāna, Vikarṇa, Hārdikya, Vidura, Bhūriśravas and others of the offspring of Bāhlīka, Santardana and Kṛpācārya were given their tasks, and did their work wishing to please Dharmarāja.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapters 74–75
At Samantapañcaka. When people from every land went to Samantapañcaka at the total eclipse of the sun, Bāhlika with his sons was among the kings, with Bhīshma, Droṇa, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Gāndhārī, the Pāṇḍavas, Kuntī and many others, who were astonished at seeing the form of Śrī Kṛshṇa and his wives.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 82
In Arjuna‘s remembrance. After Śrī Kṛshṇa left the earth, Arjuna, telling Yudhishṭhira of him, remembered that the astras of unfailing power hurled by Droṇa, Bhīshma, Karṇa, Aśvatthāmā, Suśarmā, Śalya, Saindhava, Bāhlika and other heroes could not touch him, placed as he was in the hands of Śrī Kṛshṇa, just as the weapons of Hiraṇyakaśipu could not touch Prahlāda.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 15
Per Brahma Purāṇa
His line
The Sūta tells the munis that in the Kuru line Bhīmasena‘s son was Pratīpa, and Pratīpa had three sons: Śantanu, Devāpi and Bāhlīka. Śantanu’s son was Bhīshma. “Brāhmaṇas, hear the vaṃśa of Bāhlīka”: Bāhlīka’s son was the renowned Somadatta, and his sons were Bhūriśravas and Śala. Devāpi the muni became the upādhyāya of the devas, and Śantanu, best of the Kauravas, became king.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 13
When Balarāma came for Sāmba
Vyāsa tells the munis that Sāmba, the son of Jāmbavatī, carried off the daughter of Duryodhana from her svayaṃvara, and Karṇa, Duryodhana, Bhīshma, Droṇa and the others fought him, overcame him and bound him. Balarāma went alone to the Kaurava city and, camping in the garden outside, sent word: “This is the command of Ugrasena: release Sāmba at once.” Bhīshma, Droṇa, Karṇa and Duryodhana were angry, and all of them, with Bāhlika and the others, holding that the Yadu-vaṃśa was not fit for kingship, rebuked Balarāma: a Yādava, they said, was giving commands to those of the highest lineage, and they would not release Sāmba at his word or Ugrasena’s.
Then Balarāma struck the ground with his heels so that the earth split, and declared that he would make the earth empty of Kauravas, slaying with their horses, chariots and elephants Karṇa, Duryodhana, Droṇa, Bhīshma, Bāhlika, Duḥśāsana, Bhūriśravas, Somadatta, Śala, Bhīma, Arjuna, Yudhishṭhira, the twins and all the other Kauravas, or else fling the city into the Bhāgīrathī. He thrust his plough into the base of the rampart and pulled, and the Kauravas cried, “Rāma, Rāma, forgive us!” and released Sāmba with his wife. Balarāma bowed to Bhīshma, Droṇa, Kṛpācārya and the others and said, “I am pacified.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 208
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)
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 278
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 15; Skandha 9, Chapter 22; Skandha 10, Chapters 49, 68, 74–75, 82
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 13, 208