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6. Bhishma Parva
The Book of Bhishma · 117 adhyayas
The war at Kurukshetra begins, with Bhishma leading the Kaurava army for ten days. It is here — between the two armies, as Arjuna sees his own kin and lets the Gandiva fall — that Krishna gives him the teaching we know as the Bhagavad Gita. On the tenth day, with Shikhandi placed before him, Arjuna brings Bhishma down onto a bed of arrows.
Key Episodes
- The two armies drawn up facing each other at Kurukshetra
- Arjuna's despair, and the Bhagavad Gita — 700 shlokas across 18 chapters
- Krishna's revelation of the Vishwaroopa
- Bhishma's ten days in command
- Bhishma laying down his weapons before Shikhandi
- The bed of arrows — his boon of chosen death, and the wait for Uttarayan
Shlokas
Bhishma Parva
यतः कृष्णस्ततो धर्मो यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः
yataḥ kṛṣṇas tato dharmo yato dharmas tato jayaḥ
Where Krishna is, there is dharma; and where dharma is, there is victory. Repeated through the war books as the Mahabharat's verdict on how the battle would end.