ORIENTAL SERIES.

BHTMABfflSHMA. 53
BHIMA. Name of the father of DamayantL A name of
Rudra or of one of his personifications. See Rudra.
BHIMA SANKARA, BHIME5WAKA. Name of one of
the twelve great Lingas.
See Linga.
BHlMA-SENA. A name of Bhima.
BHlSHMA. '
The terrible/ Son of King Santanu by the
holy river goddess Ganga, and hence called $antanava, Gangeya,
and Nadi-ja, 'the river-born.' When King $antanu was very
old he desired to marry a young and beautiful wife. His son
$antanava or Bhishma found a suitable damsel, but her parents
objected to the marriage because Bhishma was heir to the throne,
and if she bore sons they could not succeed To gratify his
father's desires, he made a vow to the girl's parents that he
would never accept the throne, nor marry a wife, nor become
the father of children. $antanu then married the damsel, whose
name was Satyavati, and she bore him two sons. At the death
of his father, Bhishma placed the elder son upon the throne, but
he was headstrong and was soon killed in battle. The other
son, named Vichitra-viryya, then succeeded, and Bhishma acted
as his protector and adviser. By force of arms Bhishma obtained
two daughters of the king of Kasi and married them to Vichitraviryya,
and when that prince died young and childless, Bhishma
acted as guardian of his widows. By Bhishma's arrangement,
Krishna Dwaipayana, who was born of Satyavati before her
marriage, raised up seed to his half-brother. The two children
were Pawdu and Dhnta-rashfra, Bhishma brought them up and
acted for them as regent of Hastina-pura. He also directed the
training of their respective children, the Pandavas and Kauravas.
On the rupture taking place between the rival families, Bhishma
counselled moderation and peace. When the war began he
took the side of the Kauravas, the sons of Dhnta-rashfra, and
he was made commander-in-chief of their army. He laid down
some rules for mitigating the horrors of war, and he stipulated
that he should not be called upon to fight against Arjuna.
Goaded by the reproaches of Dur-yodhana, he attacked Arjuna
on the tenth day of the battle. He was unfairly wounded by
$ikhandin, and was pierced with innumerable arrows from the
hands of. Arjuna, so that there was not a space of two fingers'
breadth left unwounded in his whole body, and when he fell
from his chariot he was upheld from the ground by the
arrows and lay as on a couch of darts. He was mortally