Meet Bheeshma, your very own ego
He is the greatest of the Kurus as he had sacrificed all conjugal comforts to ensure that his father Shantanu’s wish was fulfilled. Shantanu was an aging king of the Kauravas. He saw Satyawati by a river side and decided to marry her. However, Satyawati’s father said she could only marry Shantanu if he promised to make her son the king. It was agreed to, but Satyawati’s father raised another objection—Devavrat (Bheeshma) may later create trouble and try to assert his own son’s right to the throne.
At this, Bheeshma took the pledge not to marry ever. He also vowed to serve the Kaurav throne till he lived. Shantanu gave him the boon of wish death. Later, Shantanu got a son from Satyawati, named Vichitravirya. But, he was without an offspring. Therefore, Bheeshma at the command of Satyawati kidnapped two sisters Amba and Ambalika from the court of Kashiraj. However, Amba was already married to Shalv. Bheeshma allowed her to go to her husband. But, Shalv didn’t accept her. Worried, she came back to Bheeshma and requested him to marry her. However, Bheeshma conveyed to her his inability to marry her due to the vow. This enraged Amba, who went into the jungle and received the boon from Shiva to become the cause of Bheeshma’s death. She joined the battle of Mahabharat as Shikhandi. At the behest of Krishna, Arjuna requested Pitamah (another name of Bheeshma) to reveal the secret as to how he would be killed. Bheeshma told Arjuna that Shikhandi was a woman and he had taken a vow not to use weapons against a woman. Later, Arjuna seriuosly injured invincible Bheeshma by keeping Shikhandi as a shield. Bheeshma gave up his weapons and expressed his desire to leave the body when the time was auspicious. Arjuna arrows became his bed and later he died.
Real import: This is history. Bheem means मृत्युश्च यस्मात् विभेति सो भीषण: , meaning who even death fears is called Bheeshan.भीषणो यस्य ईष्म: सो भीष्म:, The one whose desire is as flaming as the fire of death.. What is Bheeshan? . Bheeshan is the synonym of Shiva—the lord of death and destruction. Therefore, Bheeshma is the one who even death cannot touch without will. Who is Bheeshma in our body-mind system? Anything that assigns exclusivity, identity, individuality and uniqueness to each person. That is ego—ahamkaar, which is one of the names of Shiva as related in the Shiva Sahastranaam. Ego is one part of the eight-fold nature, as per Gita chapter 7. Without ahamkaar, you cannot have the basic identity. The system of rebirth suggests that everything can disintegrate but not ahamkaar. It can rise from the ahamkaar of the amoeba to that of the Creator, but it cannot die. Because it is the very basis of existence of the universe—aham asmi, I am is the only echo of ego. Even Krishna echoed it in chapter 10 of the Gita. That is the reason why Bheeshma has been assigned wish death—-because ego cannot be killed. It can be injured with the arrows of righteous will of the chitta (Arjuna) but it can stay in that state as long as it wants. Only when ego is convinced of defeat, it accepts it, otherwise not. The same way when Bheeshma accepted his death, it came, not otherwise.
Out of ego, one does good and bad actions like Bheeshma—he kidnapped Ambika and Amba, that was bad. He didn’t stop the humiliation of
Draupadi in the Kaurav court, because he had pledged his allegience to the Kauravas. The same way ego associates and asserts for the welfare of the people and places it associates with.
Ego alone helps you perform the highest sacrifice, like Bheeshma sacrificed his conjugal association to keep his father happy. But, his pledge became the fall of the Kauravas. Ego always supports lust (Duryodhan) though it likes to associate with chitta (Arjuna). It defends lust though it knows its finality is in Krishna. Bheeshma fought for Duryodhan even when he knew Krishna was on Arjuna’s side. This means all dilemmas in life are the offspring of ego. Ego is invincible and so was Bheeshma. Ego is the cause of all causes and effects. Bheeshma kidnapped Amba, refused to marry her and she became the cause of his death in the form of Shikhandi. Granting of boons and spelling curses is the work of ego. Bheeshma vowed to decimate all the Pandavas. But, when the Pandavas went to him, pleased him at the behest of Krishna, he melted and told Arjuna the secret of his own death. Ego is a great achiever. All the things in the world are achieved by this element of nature and destroyed by it alone. This is what one sees in the life of Bheeshma. And that is why he is also referred to as Devarath—Deva means a soul, a god and an effulgent being. Rath means the vehicle. Ego is the vehicle of soul’s desires. Bheeshma is also called Pitamah (grandfather). This reflects the genetic association of ego—it carries forward the legacy of the ancestors (as kuladharma ). This has been the motive force of Bheeshma. Ego is always injured and crippled by its attachments and loving associations. It was no different in the case of Bheeshma. He was hurt by his very own Arjuna. Ego is neutralised by a female in a male garb—that is when your mind is neutral, not bipolarised, ego is rendered ineffective.
Example: Whenever you meet a stranger, you talk about yourself and your great lineage to impress him/her. Isn’t it? Let anybody say that you are bad at your job and see what you do—-you will surely react in such a way that the person either gets away from you or says sorry. The basic interaction is between egos, not individuals. And hence there are always chances of Bheeshma-like dilemmas, injuries and reactions. Whenever you face a dilemma, just know that your ego is at play and ftry to neutralise your mind.
Takeaway: You can only discipline your ego by confronting it with a neutral mind and releasing at it the arrows of righteousness from your chitta—using right memory, right perception and right reasoning. Once your ego is on the bed of arrows, your chitta will rise to Krishna dimension (universal, all-inclusive realm) and act accordingly.
Next: Who is Dronacharya?
Vivek Sharma
