Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Bhishma

भीष्म · bhīṣma

Grandsire of the Kuru house; first commander of the Kaurava army

He gave up a throne for his father's happiness, then spent his life guarding it for others.

Bhishma is the son of King Shantanu and the river goddess Ganga. As a young man he swore never to rule and never to marry, so that his father could wed the woman he loved. In return he received the power to choose the hour of his own death. He raised three generations of Kuru princes, the Pandavas among them. He loves them and knows they are in the right, yet he leads the army against them.