~ 142. Bhishma Lies on the Bed of Arrows ~


Bhishma lay on the bed of arrows but did not die; he had the power to choose the moment of his death, and he chose to wait.
"I'm thirsty," he said, and Arjuna shot an arrow into the ground. Water burst forth; thus Bhishma's mother, Ganga, quenched his thirst.
Bhishma urged Duryodhana to seek peace with the Pandavas. 
Karna was there too, and sought Bhishma's forgiveness. Again, Bhishma urged peace. "Listen, Karna: you are Kunti's son," he said. "End this war with your brothers."
But instead, Karna donned his armor, ready to fight now that Bhishma had left the battlefield.



Inspired byThe Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version by R. K. Narayan
Notes: This story is from Chapter 15: Delirium of Destruction.

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