Bahlika (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: बाह्लिक), also spelled as Vahlika, was the king of

Bahlika kingdom Bahlika may refer to : * Ancient Bactria * Bahlikas, ancient country/region * modern Balkh * Bahlika (Mahabharata) Bahlika (Sanskrit: बाह्लिक), also spelled as Vahlika, was the king of Bahlika kingdom. He was the elder brother ...

. He was the elder brother of

Shantanu Shantanu (Sanskrit: शंतनु) is a character in the Mahabharata, described as the ruler of the Kuru Kingdom with his capital at Hastinapura. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, a forebear of the lineage of the Lunar dynasty, and the ...

, who was a king of

Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain tex ...

and the uncle of

Bhishma Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic M ...

. He was the oldest warrior to fight in the

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War ( sa, कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध ), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the ''Mahabharata ( sa, महाभारत )''. The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle be ...

. He had a son, Somadatta and a daughter Pauravi, and grandsons,

Bhurishravas Bhoorishravas (Sanskrit: भूरिश्रवस् / भूरिश्रवा) was a prince of a minor kingdom''Essential Hinduism'' by Steven J. Rosen and Graham M. Schweig. Greenwood Publishing, 2006, page 96Google books linkaccessed May ...

, Bhuri and Shala by his son and Avagaha and Nandaka were the grandsons by his daughter, Somadatta had a daughter who married the Kashi king Abhibhu , who along with him fought on the side of the Kaurava army in the

. He was slain by

Bhima In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The ''Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. Af ...

on the 14th day of the war when it continued after sunset. According to

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first w ...

, Bahlika's only wish was that there should be peace among the

Bhāratas The Bharatas were an early Vedic tribe that existed in the latter half of the second millennium B.C.E. The earliest mentioned location of the Bharatas was on the first Sarasvati River in southern Afghanistan. Under the tribal king Divodāsa, ...

.Ganguli, Kisari Mohan. The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose by Kisari Mohan Ganguli. He is mentioned in the Hindu epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

Kuru Prince and accession to the throne

Bahlika was the second of the three sons of

Pratipa Pratipa ( sa, प्रतीप, translit=Pratīpa) is a legendary king in Hinduism. He is the king of Hastinapura and a member of the Lunar dynasty. He is the father of Shantanu and the grandfather of Bhishma, Chitrangada, and Vichitravirya. The ...

and his wife Sunanda, the king and queen of

. With his eldest son

Devapi Devapi ( sa, देवापि, , lit. ''friend of Gods'') or Devāpi Arṣṭiṣeṇa, is an immortal sage. According to the Nirukta (ii.10), the '' Brihaddevata'', the Mahabharata, and the Puranas, he was a Kuru prince and the eldest son of K ...

set to inherit, Pratipa gifted some newly-conquered land (though in some versions of the story, this is the land

Jarasandha Jarasandha was a powerful king of Magadha, a minor antagonist in Mahabharata. He was the son of king Brihadratha, the founder of the Barhadratha dynasty of Magadha. According to popular lore, the descendants of Brihadratha ruled Magadha for 260 ...

gifted Bahlika for agreeing not to join

Panchal Panchal or Panchal Brahmin is a collective term for a variable range of Artisanal Indian caste groups who are Brahmins. According to Louis Dumont, it is derived from the word ''panch'', meaning ''five'', and refers to communities that have tradi ...

in a war against Magdha) to his second son; the land was given the name Bahlika as a result. However, due to leprosy, Pratipa's eldest son

refused to ascend the throne and retired into the woods to perform

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...

. Bahlika was next in line to ascend the throne but felt that he would be an inadequate emperor, having never been raised as such. Shantanu then became the crown prince and upon Pratipa's death became the king of Hastinapur, with Bahlika's blessing.

Before the Kurukshetra War

Bahlika is present at the Rangboomi where Kurus show the skills they had learned from

Dronacharya Droṇa ( sa, द्रोण, Droṇa), also referred to as Dronacharya ( sa, द्रोणाचार्य, Droṇācārya), is a major character of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he serves as the royal preceptor of the Kaura ...

and

Kripacharya Kripa ( sa, कृप, Kṛpa, pity), also known as Kripacharya ( sa, कृपाचार्य, Kṛpācārya, Kripa the master), is a figure in Hindu mythology. According to the epic ''Mahabharata'', he was a council member of Kuru Kingdom ...

. He is also present at Yudhishthira's appointment as the crown prince. When Yudhishthira does the

Rajasuya Rajasuya () is a Śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king. According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti - universal monarch, in which the tributary princes may ...

sacrifice in order to become an emperor, it is

Nakula In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, ''Nakula'' (Sanskrit: नकुल) was fourth of the five Pandava brothers. Nakula and Sahadeva were twins blessed to Madri, by Ashwini Kumaras, the divine physicians. Their parents Pandu and Madri - died e ...

who extends a challenge/request to his great-grandfather's brother. Bahlika willingly accepted Yudhishthira's authority and attends the coronation, gifting him a chariot that was made from pure gold. Bahlika along with his family attended the game of dice between

Duryodhana Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being ...

and Yudhishthira.

During the Kurukshetra War

Bahlika and his kingdom fought on the side of Duryodhana during the war.

considered him to be an ''Atirathi''. On the first day, Bahlika fought against Dhrishtaketu. On the ninth day,

destroyed Bahlika's chariot; however, he was saved by

Laxmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

. On the thirteenth day, he participated in the killing of

Abhimanyu Abhimanyu is a legendary warrior from the ancient Hindu history ''Mahabharata''. He was born to the third Pandava prince Arjuna and the Yadu princess Subhadra, who was Krishna's younger sister. The ''Sambhava Parva'' of the Adi Parva sta ...

(he is not mentioned as an active participant, and is assumed to be a silent bystander). On the fourteenth day, he fought against the

Upapandavas In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the ''Upapandavas'' (, sa, उपपाण्डव, lit. ''junior Pandavas''), also known as ''Pandavaputras'' (, sa, पाण्डवपुत्र, lit. ''sons of Pandavas''), Draupadeyas or ''Panchakumar ...

and

Shikhandi Shikhandi ( sa, शिखण्डी, translit=Śikhaṇḍī) is a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Born as the daughter of Drupada, the King of Panchala, Shikhandi becomes a biological male after agreeing to a sex exchange with a y ...

, simultaneously, resisting them.

Death

On the fourteenth day of the war, Bahlika slew Senavindu. Afterwards,

Satyaki Yuyudhana ( sa, युयुधान, '), better known as Satyaki ( sa, सात्यकि, ), was a powerful Yadava chieftain of Narayani Sena, belonging to the Vrishni clan to which Krishna also belonged. According to the Puranas, he was ...

battled Bahlika's son Somadatta and knocked him unconscious with his arrows. Furious, Bahlika rushed to his son's aid, only to be counter-checked by Bhima. Bahlika struck Bhima with a dart that made him delirious. Upon recovering his senses, Bhima hurled a mace at Bahlika's head, killing him. The war would extinguish Bahlika's line. His only child and heir, Somadatta, as well as Somadatta's oldest son,

, were killed by

. In the Chatahurdi compilation, Bhurishravas's nine interpolated brothers die as well. Bhurishravas's two sons, Pratipa and Prajanya, were killed by Abhimanyu on the thirteenth day of the war.

References

{{Mahabharata Characters in the Mahabharata