Bccause of hi sticer vow of hiclamg celbaey, Bhsmadeva, the greatest warior ofhis time, received a benediction from his father, Santanu, that he would die only by his own will. Thus
even after laying wounded for three days upon a bed of arrows, Bhīṣma retained his life and was of sound mind. During this time he refused all water offered to hịm. Then Arjuna, understanding that Bhīṣma wanted to drink only sacred Ganges water at that final hour of his life, shot an arrow into the ground, causing the Ganges to rise up and enter the mouth of his beloved grandfather.
Bhīṣmadeva was the valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty (in which the Pāṇḍavas appeared), the titular grandfather of all the fighters in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and the chief descendant of King Bharata. At the end of the battle, Bhīṣma lay on a bed of arrows, fatally wounded. Just to pay their respects to him, all the great souls in the universe, namely the brāhmaṇas and kings and the ṛṣis among the demigods, all situated in the quality of goodness, assembled before him. King Yudhiṣṭhira, along with his younger brothers and Lord Kṛṣṇa, also came before him.
Bhīṣmadeva welcomed all the great and powerful yṣis, for he knew perfectly all the religious prin- ciples according to time and place. And when he saw the sons of King Pāndu sitting silently nearby, overcome with affection for their dying grandfather, Bhīṣmadeva congratulated them with feeling. There were tears of ecstasy in his eyes, for he was overwhelmed by love and affection for them.