A few weeks passed and Devavrata realized that his father was neither happy nor calm as he was before, and he asked him why. Shantanu replied evasively and refused to reveal his secret. But as the days went by, he became more and more locked in himself and refused to talk to anyone about it. Devavrata, worried, began to investigate until, with a shrewd deception, he managed to convince the coachman who had witnessed the scene to tell him what had happened.
Having solved the mystery, the same day Devavrata went to see the fisherman and tried by all means to persuade him to give his daughter in marriage to his father. But he found him adamant; he was determined to see his grandchildren on the throne.
“If that is all you want,” the virtuous prince told him, “you can be satisfied. I do not aspire to the pleasures and power of this world and have no difficulty in giving up my birthright on behalf of your grandchildren. You will get what you want, as long as my father is happy.”
“You are a young man with moral principles as big and solid as the mountains,” the fisherman replied admiringly, “and I know you will keep your promise, but what will happen with your children? How will I know that when they reach the right age they will no claim their right to the throne?”
“I want nothing more than to know that my father is happy,” Devavrata retorted firmly, “this is my main goal. If you are afraid that my children might one day claim the throne from your grandchildren, I swear I won’t get marry and that this vow won’t break under any circumstances.”
As soon as Devavrata uttered the vow of perpetual celibacy, a heavenly voice was heard saying,
“Bhishma, Bhishma!”
which means,
“The one who takes a difficult vow and keeps it.”
From that day on, Devavrata was called Bhishma.
This is a section of the book “Maha-Bharata As It Is vol. 1 of 2”.
To buy the complete book, click here
Post view 121 times
Leave a Reply