I have been watching the Mahabharata Series by Dr.BR Chopra for a long time now. Even though I have watched the series a couple of times previously, it is only now that I have realized the real meaning. Mahabharata is truly the greatest epic of all times. It has drama, romance, action & adventure. If one reads or watched the entire Mahabharata, he/she would become trained to deal with various issues in life.
The first thing that I want to write about is Ganga Putra, Bheesma. Bheesma was one of the strongest characters in Mahabharata. He was a superb warrior and was a man of principles. He also suffered greatly throughout his life. He led a life filled with loneliness and frustrations.
Bheesma’s birth:
Bheeshma was Shantanu, the King of Hastinapur and River Ganga’s son. He was then named Devrata. He took birth on earth because of a curse given to him by Maha Rishi Vashishta. He was actually one of the eight Vasus. Vasus are Indra’s attendants in court. He is Dyaus (sky) amongst the eight Vasus. He was cursed because he stole Rishi Vashishtha’s cow Nandini upon his wife’s request. Nandini was this golden cow that fulfilled all the wishes. The other 7 vasus were cursed too because they supported Dyaus and helped him steal the cow. Upon being cursed by the Rishi all of them were extremely worried. They went to Vashishta and asked for forgiveness. Vashishta could not take his curse back but said that the 7 vasus who only helped Dyaus take birth and would die within the first year and thus won’t suffer. Dyaus on the other hand would have to suffer his entire life. Nonetheless he would be one of the greatest warriors in the history of India.
King Shantanu was the great grandfather of the Padavas. Ganga knew of this curse and decided that she would help the eight Vasus. When Shantanu asked Ganga to marry him, she kept a condition that he could not ask her any questions. The day he would question her, she would leave him and go. The king agreed and they decided to marry. One by one her sons were born. She drowned her 7 sons as soon as they were born. King Shantanu was extremely helpless. However, when the eight son was born, King Shantanu could not hold himself back and asked Ganga to stop. It was then that Ganga explained to him the entire story of the Vasus. Now that the king had questioned her, she had to leave him. The eight son could no longer be killed because the king stopped her. He was then named Devrata.
King Shantanu stops Ganga from drowning Bheesma
Ganga decided that she would train Devrata to be the future King of Hastinapur and would return him back to the king once he was capable enough. Devrata learnt archery from Rishi Parshurama (avatar of Vishnu), Vedas from Rishi Vashishta himself and other subjects from Gods in Indra’s court. He was the bravest man and that time. Thus as a young teenager, Ganga returned Devrata to King Shantanu. The king rejoiced and they shared a beautiful father-son relationship. Devarata was crowned the future King to the throne.
Ganga returning Devrata to Shantanu
The story does not end here. This was just the happy part. After that came the sad part. I will write more on the next part later. Hope you enjoyed this post 🙂
-Prachi
Bhakti Route 