Bhishma Parva — Section 2 of 2 in this original, condensed prose retelling of the eighteen-parva Mahabharata.
Bhishma commands the Kaurava army with unmatched experience. After fierce fighting, Arjuna wounds him with arrows using Shikhandi’s presence in the complex battle strategy. Bhishma rests on a bed of arrows, alive until a chosen moment. He remains a source of counsel even as the war moves beyond him.
Read this episode in sequence with the other parvas to understand the full storyline, including its moral ambiguity and tragic consequences.