When Devavrata became Bhishma

Before Bhishma became "Bhishma"- The man with a terrible vow- he was the handsome Devavrata

When his father, King Shantanu asked for Matsyagandha’s hand in marriage, the fisherman stipulated that the sons of Matsyagandha should succeed to the throne instead of heir-apparent, Bhishma.

With no heart to accept this unfair deal for his son, Shantanu returned to the palace. When Bhishma later learned of this, without telling his father Shantanu, he went to the fisherman’s house.

He abdicated his right to succession.

The fisherman was still displeased and pointed out that Bhishma’s children could still contest their right to the throne.

Without hesitation, Bhishma vowed to remain a bachelor. The rest of Bhishma's life was mortgaged to this terrible promise.

This meant that Bhishma nurtures a very rigid and righteous judge within. He is a mighty warrior, but all his wars are fought as a proxy for the occupier of the throne. The beautiful and powerful energies of Bhishma sadly become congealed and inert; he does not look at the context, he does not introspect and question his actions. He continues to hang on to his past promises in a frozen form even when the context has changed.

We all do this to ourselves all the time. Don't we?

We make promises to ourselves or to others like Bhishma, build and cultivate an image around it, and keep on sticking to that image despite the changing context around us. And if that wasn't enough, we give a pat on our backs for being strong, of not getting tempted.

As a free agent, I often ask myself this question: Have I made a Bhishma's promise to never go back to a job? If I narrowly equate "being a free agent = not in a job", then what is the real definition of 'free'?

My life experiments around culture and agriculture are centred around the indic view which posits that an individual is a fractal of the universe. This means that the deeper you think of the human condition, civilizational ambitions become powerful fractal individual goals.

What are my individual goals in my artha-driven exploration of culture and agriculture?

1)Discovering a powerful anchor of dharma - meaning-making framework- in an age of Anthropocene

2)Discovering leverage points to transform food and agriculture systems

What I am discovering now is that in order to pursue these goals, it is much more important to wear the identity mask of “entrepreneur” than “free agent”.

Bhisma says to himself ‘I am great because I have not broken my vow under the greatest of provocation and seduction. The world loves such heroes and reinforces this identity

The world, even today, applauds him as "BhishmaPitamah", the greatest upholder of dharma. The truth is hard to swallow - he represents the power of dogma.

Have you been a Bhishma in your life?