Bhishma



'Grandfather' of the Kuru dynasty. Mahabharata describes him as " the dispeller of the fears of the Kurus, gifted with great intelligence, conversant with the Vedas, the first of speakers, and the thinner of the enemy's ranks. And possessed of mighty energy and the first of all persons acquainted with weapons, he encountered the illustrious Rama himself, the son of Jamadagni of the Bhrigu race."

"t he dispeller of the fears of the Kurus, gifted with great intelligence, conversant with the Vedas, the first

the dispeller of the fears of the Kurus, gifted with great intelligence, conversant with the Vedas, the first

persons acquainted with weapons, he encountered the illustrious Rama himself, the son of Jamadagni of

the Bhrigu race.

The birth of Bhishma
== Bhishma was the 8th child of Maharaja Shantanu and the celestial Ganga. His 7 elder brothers were thrown in the Ganges river by Ganga, as per her agreement with the 8 Vasus who had been cursed to take birth on earth, but desired to return to their position immediately after. Only one of them was destined to live his full lifetime on earth. After the birth of Bhishma, Shantanu stopped Ganga from throwing the baby in the river, so as per their previous agreement, Ganga left Shantanu, taking the newborn with her to the heavenly planets to get him trained. == Bhishma studied under Brhaspati, the guru of the demigods. He learned martial arts from Parashurama.

Previous birth
He was considered incarnation of the 8 Vasus combined, or an incarnation of one of them.

"Bhishma, of great energy and fame and of immeasurable splendour, and sprung from the component parts of the Vasus, was born in the womb of Ganga through king Santanu."

"And from the curse of Vasishtha and the command also of Indra, the eight Vasus were born of Ganga by her husband Santanu. The youngest of them was Bhishma."