Are Bhishma’s teachings of pure devotion at the end of his life contradicted by his life of service to the Kauravas?

Video:

So if you consider say Bhishma The way Bhishma Is so purely devoted As revealed at the end of the Bhagavatam Towards the end of his life as revealed in the Bhagavatam That as compared to that The Bhishma who The way he functions say Out of misdirected, out of being just loyal To Duryodhana All that seems to be almost contradictory Yeah This is a Complex subject And in general This narrative can be understood At two levels At one level it is that Bhishma If you want to understand It from the morality You could say moral perspective or transcendental perspective From the moral perspective Bhishma ends up committing Niyamagraha Sticking to the letter of the law While forgetting the purpose of the law So He had taken a vow that he would always stand By the side of The ruler of the throne Now he could not have envisioned That at that time later Somebody like Duryodhana would take up the throne So now he feels This is the word I have given, this is what I have to follow And he sticks to it through thick and thin He does make his He does make his Displeasure And even opposition to Duryodhana Very strongly expressed on many occasions He does not express it As strongly as this Vidura Because he feels Bound by his word Of honour Now we live in a very different culture Where the concept of Word of honour It is not really that Given that much importance And how important the word of honour is We can see that even Duryodhana Narjuna goes and asks for the five arrows Duryodhana also uses those arrows Now If you see that if Duryodhana was so honour bound Then why didn’t he return the kingdom only to the Pandavas Earlier and after So at that time he tries to screw out of the way by saying that Actually you did not complete the Agyatvas That you were detected Before the one year was completed That is his reasoning That is why you have to go back to the forest again Now there is some difference Among Duryodhana And Bhishma When they detect Arjuna On the Matsya battlefield So at that time You can have solar lunar calculations Based on which exact month duration will vary So anyway My point I am making is that Duryodhana at that time feels that I am not honour bound Because they have not yet completed Their detective beforehand But word of honour was considered Extremely important Even Duryodhana followed it Then it was a case of black and white I have given my word and I will give it to you So in that sense Bhishma wanting to honour his word Is understandable In that context where Word of honour was taken very very seriously But So we could say that Bhishma commits Niyamagraha And rather than saying that A more Safer way to say it is that Through this incident We are taught By the example of Bhishma How the danger of Niyamagraha Rather than saying he committed Niyamagraha This action demonstrates The mistake of Niyamagraha At an ethical level we can learn Sometimes We can just take a transcendental level And our Acharya has also explained that way that Krishna wanted to demonstrate Using Bhishma that No matter How exalted a person you are If you go against God You will be destroyed So Bhishma voluntarily chose To do that To support Duryodhana throughout To stay silent and Draupadi was dishonoured By his staying silent at that time Krishna manifested and Krishna protected Draupadi By offering her the Unlimited cloth Similarly The whole Kurukshetra battle In which Krishna intervened in various ways And protected Duryodhana So his Bhishma’s opposition Became on many occasions The One of the reasons for Krishna To manifest his Bhaktavatsalya So Krishna By Bhishma’s apparently Unimical attitude Krishna manifested his Bhaktavatsalya Towards the Pandavas But that Krishna had done all That Bhishma had done All this not in actually a mood of Hostility towards the Pandavas or Krishna But in a mood of Devotion only That was demonstrated When Krishna came in front of him So throughout the Mahabharata Krishna is manifesting his Bhaktavatsalya For the Pandavas But at the end he is manifesting His Bhaktavatsalya for Bhishma Therefore he says Therefore okay Just see how merciful Is this lord Because I was his unflinching devotee Therefore at the moment of death He himself has come to give me his darshan So it might seem a little audacious For Bhishma to say I am unflinching devotee But he is not He is not saying that to glorify himself He is saying that to To glorify How the lord reciprocates With one who is unflinching And his focus is You also don’t flinch I was called upon to do a difficult duty That of fighting against my lord I did that and just see how he rewarded me And now you also are called to do a difficult duty That is that you have to Administer this kingdom Which has Come to you after great amount of bloodshed But do this duty And the lord will reciprocate with you So that’s how we understand Bhishma’s actions So at that time

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

So, if you consider say Bhishma, the way Bhishma is so purely devoted as revealed at the end of the Bhagavatam, towards the end of his life as revealed in the Bhagavatam, that as compared to that, the Bhishma who, the way he functions say, out of misdirected, out of being just loyal to Duryodhana, all that seems to be almost contradictory. Yeah, this is a complex subject. And in general, this narrative can be understood at two levels.

At one level, it is that Bhishma, if you want to understand from the morality, there is a moral perspective and a transcendental perspective. From the moral perspective, Bhishma ends up committing Niyamagraha, sticking to the letter of the law while forgetting the purpose of the law. So, he had taken a vow that he would always stand by the side of the ruler of the throne.

Now, he could not have envisioned that at that time later, somebody like Duryodhana would take up the throne. So, now he feels this is the word I have given, this is what I have to follow. And he sticks to it through thick and thin.

He does make his displeasure and even opposition to Duryodhana very strongly expressed on many occasions. He does not express it as strongly as Vidura because he feels bound by his word of honour. Now, we live in a very different culture where the concept of word of honour, it is not really given that much importance.

And how important the word of honour is, we can see that even in Duryodhana, Narjuna goes and asks for the five arrows, Duryodhana also gives those arrows. Now, if you see that, if Duryodhana was so honour bound, then why didn't he return the kingdom only to the Pandavas earlier and after. So, at that time, he tries to screw out of the way by saying that actually, you did not complete the Agyatvas.

That you were detected before the one year was completed. That is his reasoning. That is why you have to go back to the forest again.

Now, there is some difference among Duryodhana and Bhishma when they detect Arjuna on the Mathura battlefield. So, at that time, you can have solar lunar calculations based on which exact month duration will vary. So, anyway, my point I am making is that Duryodhana at that time feels that I am not honour bound because they have not yet completed their detective beforehand.

But the word of honour was considered extremely important. Even Duryodhana followed it. Then it was a case of black and white.

I have given my word that I will give you, I will give it to you. So, in that sense, Bhishma wanting to honour his word is understandable in that context where word of honour was taken very, very seriously. So, we could say that Bhishma commits Niyamagraha and rather than saying that, a safer way to say it is that through this incident, we are taught by the example of Bhishma, how the danger of Niyamagraha.

Rather than saying he committed Niyamagraha, this action demonstrates the mistake of Niyamagraha. That is at the ethical level we can learn. Sometimes we can just take a transcendental level and our Acharya has also explained that way that Krishna wanted to demonstrate using Bhishma that no matter how exalted a person you are, if you go against God, you will be destroyed.

So, Bhishma voluntarily chose to do that, to support Duryodhana throughout, to stay silent when Draupadi was dishonoured. By his staying silent at that time, Krishna manifested and Krishna protected Draupadi by offering her the cloth, unlimited cloth. Similarly, the whole Kurukshetra battle in which Krishna intervened in various ways and protected Arjuna.

So, his, Bhishma's opposition became on many occasions one of the reasons for Krishna to manifest as Bhaktavatsalya. So, Krishna, by Bhishma's apparently inimical attitude, Krishna manifested as Bhaktavatsalya towards the Pandavas. But that Krishna had done, that Bhishma had done all this not in actually a mood of hostility towards the Pandavas or Krishna, but in a mood of devotion only.

That was demonstrated when Krishna came in front of him. So, throughout the Mahabharata, Krishna is manifesting his Bhaktavatsalya for the Pandavas. But at the end, he is manifesting his Bhaktavatsalya for Bhishma.

Tathapekant bhakteshu, pasyabhupanukampitam, enmesu sthajata saakshat, krishno darshanamagata. Therefore, Bhishma says, therefore, okay, just see, how merciful is this Lord, that because I was his unflinching devotee, therefore, at the moment of death, he himself has come to give me his darshan. So, it might seem a little audacious for Bhishma to say, I am unflinching devotee.

But he is not saying that to glorify himself. He is saying that to glorify how the Lord reciprocates with one who is unflinching. And his focus is, O Yudhishthir, you also don't flinch.

I was called upon to do a difficult duty, that of fighting against my Lord. I did that and just see how he has rewarded me. And now you also are called to do a difficult duty, that is that you have to administer this kingdom, which has come to you after great amount of bloodshed.

But do this duty and the Lord will reciprocate with you. So, that's how we understand Bhishma's actions.