Bhishma

Bhishma
Mahabharata character
Painting depicting presentation by Ganga of her son Devavrata (the future Bhishma) to his father, Shantanu

In the epic Mahabharata, Devavrata also known as Gangaputra and Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म) [3901BC - 3101BC] was well known for his celibate pledge, the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu, who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king and grand-uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was an unparalleled archer and warrior of his time. He also handed down the Vishnu Sahasranama to Yudhishtira when he was on his death bed (of arrows) in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He also belonged to the Sankriti Gotra.

In Sanskrit, the word Bhishma (भीष्म) means 'fearsome' or 'one who incited fear'.

His other names are as follows-

The legend behind Bhishma's birth is as follows — once the eight Vasus ("Ashtavasus") visited Vashishta's ashram accompanied by their wives. One of the wives took a fancy to Kamadhenu, Vashishta's wish-bearing cow and asked her husband Prabhasa to steal it from Vashishta. Prabhasa then stole the cow with the help of the others who were all consequently cursed by Vashishta to be born in the world of humans. Upon the Vasus appealing to Vashishta's mercy, the seven Vasus who had assisted in stealing Kamadhenu had their curse mitigated such that they would be liberated from their human birth as soon as they were born; however, Prabhasa being protagonist of the theft, was cursed to endure a longer life on the earth. The curse, however is softened to the extent that he would be one of the most illustrious men of his time. It was this Prabhasa who took birth as Bhishma.

After Devavrata was born, his mother Ganga took him to different realms, where he was brought up and trained by many eminent sages (Mahabharata Shanti Parva, section 38).

It is mentioned by Vyasa that Bhishma also acquired celestial weapons from Indra.