|| Srimad Bhagavath Mahapuran||

|| Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 10 – The grief of Yudhishtira and Bhishmopadhesha

After sometime Yudhistira besieged with gloominess, thinking that his desire to the throne of Hastinapura brought the great battle Kurukshetra,  caused the death of his relatives, brothers, preceptors, innocents warriors and Bhishma Pithamaha, even though it was none of his mistakes.  Yudhishtira is a great soul, the personification of righteousness felt more remorse, taking all the blames upon him for the death of numerous warriors was his greed for the throne of Hastinapura.  Krishna said “ Yudhishtira, it was not your fault for the battle of Kurukshetra, though I have given the greatest knowledge of Bhagavad Gita and was constantly with you all, during all those incidents happened in your life, you have not understood me yet.   Therefore, perform an Ashwamedha Yaga, which could remove the Bhramahathya sin upon you all, will take you to the heavenly abode after leaving the mortal coil.”  Yudhishtira was not satisfied with the advice of the performance of Ashwamedha Yaga, so Krishna thought Yudhistira needs to get the guidance of Bhishma Pithamaha to know more about righteousness.  Krishna said “ Yudhishtira,  I will take you to the profound knower of Dharma, Bhishma Pithamaha who is still alive in the bed of arrows.”  The illustrious Rishis and Sages of the entire universe understood that great knowledge is going to be restored, soon they also assembled before the Bhishma Pithamaha.   The five Pandavas and Draupadi with Krishna went to meet Pithamaha who was already frail waiting for his death; he could not witness anything before him, nothing was visible and has no energy to speak.  They reverentially greeted Pithamaha who was in the bed of arrows. Pandavas and Draupadi stood closer to the feet of Bhishma Pithamaha so that he could witness them.    Bhishma Pithamaha enquired for Krishna who was standing close to his head,  soon he came into visible.  Bhishma Pithamaha said “ Oh! Krishna, I am feeling so thirsty, can you quench my thirst?” Arjun shot arrows on the Earth, the holy Ganga sprung up and the water fell on the mouth of Pithamaha and quenched his thirst.

Krishna stood before Pithamaha and looked all over his body, instantly Pithamaha attained a divine energy to look upon the people who have surrounded him with the folded hands, he began to speak. “ Oh! Yudhishtira who is the son of Dharmaraja, you are well known for your righteousness, I have witnessed that your chariot does not touch the Earth because of your righteousness, you have gone through various hardships but never moved away an inch from your righteousness.” Yudhistira replied, “ It was your blessings Pithamaha we could forget all those hardships”.  He took the hands of Bhima and said “ Oh! Bhima, there is no one in the world mightier than you and you have the strength of sixteen thousand elephants; you have created havoc on the battlefield.  Oh! Arjuna who is the son of Lord Indra, Oh! Sabyasachi, you are an eminent archer, you are unparalleled.  Oh! Nakula and Sahadeva, who is the son of Ashwini Kumaras, you are famous for your skill in the knowledge of medicines.  Oh! Draupadi who is the daughter of King Drupada, you have born from fire and unblemished.  Even though, you all are profound in various fields, you have spent all your life in extreme hardships and troubles, you have undergone constant humiliation of Duryodhana and his brothers, Bhima was pushed to the mouth of death,   you were all put into wax house and burnt alive, you had to face the injustice of Dhritarashtra, you have been exiled from your Kingdom, you have been living in disguise in the Kingdom of  Virat, Draupadi was humiliated by Duryodhana and Dhusshasana in the grand assembly.  Your mother Devi Kunthi protected you all.  Have you ever thought of the reason for these many struggles in life? I shall explain to you.  ‘Time’ is a powerful element that cannot be overpowered.  I cannot forget any of the troubles you have been to, I am your grandfather, I was not in a position to help you all during those difficult times.” Bhishma Pithamaha looked at Krishna and asked: “What was the reason all of you have visited here?” Krishna said “Your grandchildren have some doubts to clear with you.  Kindly remove their qualms.”  Yudhishtira requested Pithamaha “ Oh! Pithamaha, kindly describe the code of conduct.” 

Bhishma Pithamaha gave lectures elaborately on Dhana/Charity and Dharma/righteousness, Moksha Dharma/ righteous deeds for the liberation from repeated births, Rajya Dharma/duties, and responsibilities of a wise ruler; Sthree Dharma/righteousness should be followed by every woman and Deva Dharma/righteous deeds in the worship of deities.  Pithamaha gave an elaborate lecture on the Dharma of four Varnas such as Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, the Dharma of four Ashramas such as Bhramachari, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasin and their duties and responsibilities.