In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya in the “bed of arrows” talking to people around him. Bhishmachaarya is respected by all of them who gather around him from both the camps. Yudishtra and Co. are also there to pay their respects to him, as Arjuna makes him comfortable by providing a “pillow of arrows” to comfort Bhishmachaarya’s head in a stable position. Moreover, when the doctors come to cure Bhishmachaarya’s wounds, he sends them away by saying that his body has to undergo all this pain for being on the part of “Adharma” and for consuming Duryodhana’s food and hospitality all these years. Also, as a “Kshatrya” warrior, he is steadfast that his body has to bear all this pain and should not back out of it at any moment.
This is a very important moment in the entire Kurukshetra war as Bhishmachaarya has fallen down and the entire Kaurava camp has to regroup to chart out a new strategy. They hadn’t expected such a thing to happen wherein Bhishmachaarya is unavailable for the rest of the battle. Till now the entire strategy of attack for the Kaurava camp was centred around Bhishmachaarya, as he was the “Senapati” (Leader) for the entire camp. However, now as Bhishmachaarya has fallen down, this opens the door for Karna to enter the battlefield, which can add a new flavour of fight for Duryodhana. This was not possible till this point as Bhishmachaarya and Karna had pledged in front of each other that they won’t be on the battlefield at the same time together! Now that Bhishmachaarya is unavailable, Karna can come into the battlefield and add to the strength and moral support for Duryodhana.
As Duryodhana and Co. leave the place to strategize for the next day thus, Bhishmachaarya calls Arjuna once again besides him. He says to Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Because of your arrows, my body is completely heated up! As a result, I’m feeling thirsty and I need some water to drink. Can you arrange a source of water for me so that I can quench my thirst?” Arjuna obeys Bhishmachaarya’s words once again – He immediately circumvents Bhishmachaarya once and goes to his chariot and stands there. He takes his huge “Gaandeepa” bow once again in his hands and takes the “Parjanya-Asthra” which is also referred to as “Vaaruna-Asthra”, which can bring water from beneath the earth surface. Arjuna aims this “Parjanya-Asthra” near Bhishmachaarya’s head and off it goes! It cuts through the earth’s surface and water starts gushing out of the hole that it has made! Bhishmachaarya gets water to drink directly from the ground. We can worship this place exactly the same way even today – In Kurukshetra, there is a place called “Bhishma Kund”, wherein there is a small pond of water, besides which an idol of Bhishmachaarya in the bed of arrows is present. This is the exact place where Bhishmachaarya was lying down and the pond nearby is the one which was created by Arjuna with his “Vaaruna-Asthra” to quench the thirst of Bhishmachaarya! This “Bhishma Kund” is precisely the place where the Vishnu Sahasranamam also took birth and because of this, it has a lot of significance.
So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 