Bhishma Parva

The Bhishma Parva (Sanskrit: भीष्म पर्व), or the Book of Bhishma, is the sixth of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata. It has 4 sub-books and 124 chapters.

The Bhishma Parva describes the first 10 days of the 18-day Kurukshetra War and its consequences. It recites the story of Bhishma, the commander in chief of the Kauravan armies, who is fatally injured and loses his ability to lead. This book of the Mahabharata includes the widely studied Bhagavad Gita, sometimes referred to as Gita, or The Song of the Lord, or The Celestial Song. Chapters of the Bhagavad Gita describe Arjuna's questioning of the purpose of war, the ultimate effects of violence, and the meaning of life. Arjuna's doubts and metaphysical questions are answered by Krishna. Other treatises in the Bhishma Parva include the just war theory in ancient India, as well as strategies and tactics. The book describes the deaths of Uttar (brother-in-law of Abhimanyu and brother of Uttara, the wife of Abhimanyu, and also Bhishma's fall, respectively on the 1st and 10th days of the war. Karna did not fight in these first ten days, on Bhishma's orders.