Discussion of the Week
Bheeshma is my Most Favourite Character 😍 😍😍 after Krishna in Mahabharat. Actually I was Soooo… Influenced by Mukesh Khanna that I never wanted to listen to any criticism 😡 against the character of Bheeshma. But reading different Orkut-posts on Bheeshma has made me a bit Realistic about him😊 and look today I am trying to cast away my prejudice to Judge his action from a balanced view point😊…
At first let us consider the Situation of Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. A 'Swayamvar' gives a Lady the right to choose her own husband. But here we find Bheeshma taking the situaion in his own hands… The logic which he gives is –"Kaashi ki raajakumariya sadiyo se Kuruvanshiyo me bihate le jaati rahi hai, aaj bhi yehi hoga"- is his view of the situation.
Now this story has Various Predicament respectively to various characters.
At first let us consider the character of Kashiraaj. His sister was refused by Shantanu, so he wanted to take a Revenge on Hastinapur and decided to go against that rule of marrying off their daughter to Hastinapur... That's why he arranged for the Swayamvar (i.e.- which gave Amba the opportunity to chose a husband- Shaalva Raaj ).
So here , the parents' action gave their daughter a chance to choose her own husband, which Amba did.
Now Hasinapur (i.e.- Bheeshma and Satyavati also…) considered it as an Insult and became angry. And it is also shown that Satyavati supported this action on Bheeshma's part- that is- to bring all the three princess to Hastinapur from their Swayamvar… So, we can say, that it was a decision of the Kuru family.
I think, Bheeshma's action can surely be regarded as an Intrusion. On the other hand, it is also true that he always had the sole purpose of Hastinapur's Welfare in his mind while attempting this actions, he wanted to keep the tradition alive (and also to establish the glory of Hastinapur).
Now if we take the case of Amba herself, she was so awestruck by the sudden intrusion of Bheeshma that she was too late to express about her love for Shaalva Raaj. Bheeshma (as a typical male of old age Morals…), never suspected that a lady can have an opinion of her own (that is-before her swayamvar). So here Amba was also a bit guilty😊 of not expressing her views (which she did after she reached Hastinapur) in the correct time (that is in the time of Bheeshma's entry in the Swayamvar and their abduction😊).
Another angle of this story is Bheshma's enmity with Shaalva Raaj in the past. Due to which, even after feeling true emotions for Amba, Shaalva Raaj refused to accept her as he thought that would be like living on the mercy of Bheeshma whom he hated by that time Amba returned rom Hastinapur.
I felt, all these cirumstances contributed towards the final situation faced by Amba. So defeinitely- Bheeshma is responsible for that, but as I feel – all thoses factors must also be considered along with Bheeshma's role.
And after that, what happened to Amba… her Anger…her aim of Revenge… is really a Long Story … And I personally feel that- it is a Plot contrived by Vyaas Dev to bring about the death of Bheeshma. Otherwise, it was nearly Impossible to put an end to this Great and Noble Character from the Epic... So only a curse, of a lady could have done it… as the chivalrous ways of Arya Samaj never went in direct clash with a lady.
He accepted Amba's curse in the same way Krishna accepted Gandhari's curse, as Bheeshma also was above the level of 'this mundane world'. He was always aware of the 'Ichhamrityu vardaan', so it was just like Taking Responsibility for his own Actions… We don't know if he himself considered it (his action regarding Amba) to be a wrong one or not, but he was well aware of the situation and Faced the Outcome Courageously… That's where the Greatness of his character lies(IMO).
Like many other aspects of various characters , I feel that this particular aspect of Accepting Amba's Curse by Bheeshma was also written by Ved Vyas to Add Glory to the Character, in the same way as Krishna asked Bheeshma to advocate about Raaj-Dharma to Yudishthir after Kurukshetra (we had discussed a lot about this theory of 'adding Greatness to characters' in our Orkut Threads😊 regarding Bheeshma and Karna, as far as I remember).
Now, coming to Gandhaari's case- it is slightly different, as there was no Swayamvar. Bheeshma gave the marriage proposal and Gandhar-Naresh accepted it, knowing fully well about the blindness of Dhritarashtra. So here, I guess, Bheeshma did the action which is generally done by any elder member of the family (in case of arranged marriages). In spite of having some physical problem(here Blindness), the elders had to arrange a girl to suit Dritarashtra… So Bheeshma decided to approach Gandhari for the same.
Now the final decision was taken by Gandhari … Her father and Brother had their own opinions, but no one did force her to accept Dritarashtra as her Husband.
It was her decision to cover her eyes, she did it for very Great Ideal… Though I feel that 'the person who Has Seen the world, then decided to cover her eyes' and 'the person who Has Never Seen the world'- have Two very Different Experiences and can Never be Comparerd. So, we can say that Gandhari's Sacrifice(if we consider it so…) was Greater, Undoubtedbly. Whether it was a Right or a Wrong decision – that is a Big Question, guess we need another DOTW for that😆. But anyway, it was her decision. Bheeshma was not that much role to play in the marriage/marital life of Dhritarashtra-Gandhari.
Now you all can easily understand that I am Always Ready to write an Essay on Bheeshma… Anytime.😆😆
As Alwsys- Many many dialogues are the Real Treasure⭐️⭐️ of all those scenes mentioned above. Will try to post some of those dialogues in future.
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