Bhishma

Bhishma
Statue of Bhishma
Information
Aliases	Devavrata Gauranga Bhishma Pitamaha Gangaputra Mahamahima Kurushreshtha
Gender	Male
Position	Supreme commander of the Kuru army
Affiliation	Kauravas
Weapon	Bow and arrow Sword Axe Gada Spear
Family	Shantanu (father) Ganga (mother) Satyavati (step-mother) Vichitravirya (half-brother) Chitrāngada (half-brother) Bahlika and Devapi (elder uncles)
Relatives	Kuru dynasty-Chandravamsha
Home	Hastinapura

Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्म, romanized: bhīṣma, lit. 'mighty'),^[1] also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, is a major character of the epic Mahabharata and the protagonist of the Bhishma Parva episode. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War of the epic. He was the only character who witnessed the entirety of the events of the Mahabharata, beginning from the reign of his father, King Shantanu of the Kuru kingdom. Bhishma was the stepbrother of Vyasa, the grandfather of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was a prominent statesman of the Kuru Kingdom. He was born as the youngest son of the illustrious King Shantanu and goddess Ganga.

Originally named Devavrata, he was made the heir-apparent of his kingdom. However, he renounced his birthright for his father's happiness and took a vow of lifelong celibacy. Owing to this selfless decision, he came to be known as Bhishma, and was blessed to live as long as he wanted, by his father, Shantanu. He participated in the Kurukshetra War on the side of the Kauravas. On the tenth day of the war, the Pandava prince Arjuna, with the help of Shikhandi, pierced Bhishma with numerous arrows and paralysed him upon a bed of arrows. After spending fifty-one nights on the arrow bed, the hero Bhishma left his body on the auspicious Uttarayana (winter solstice). Before his death, he passed down the Vishnu Sahasranama to Yudhishthira.

Bhishma is a revered figure in Hinduism. Each year his death anniversary is celebrated as Bhishma Ashtami, which falls on the eighth lunar day of the Shukla (light) half of the Magha (January–February) month.