The Hindu Temple v2.c12.368

v2.c12.368

In the "Great war", Bhīṣma, the Dreadful, the self denying, devoted and wise, son of the holy Gaṅgā, was pierced by innumerable arrows from the hands of Arjuna. Mortally wounded and sinking from his chariot he was upheld from the ground by the arrows and lay as on a couch of darts. He had the power of choosing the time of his death; he waited till the sun had crossed the vernal equinox. In these fifty-eight days he delivered the discourses which are known as the Book of Calm (Śānti-parva) and the Book of Precepts (Anuśāsana-parva) of the Mahābhārata.