Shikhandi was Amba reborn. Bhishma knew this and lowered his weapons when he saw Shikhandi coming. Krishna had instructed Arjuna to hide behind Shikhandi all the while, and when Bhishma finally lowered his guard, Arjuna killed him.
Bhishma did not choose death, rather he lay on the bed of arrows for 42 days and endured terrible pain. Why?
Bhishma had vowed to embrace death only after seeing Hastinapur in safe hands. With the Mahabharata war being completed in 18 days, Yudhishthira became the king of Hastinapur. Despite this, Bhishma did not choose death, rather he lay on the bed of arrows for 42 days, enduring terrible pain. The question arises that why was it necessary for Devavrata Bhishma, one of the 12 Bhagavatas, to do this. Bhishma himself answered this on the last day of his life.
In response to Queen Draupadi's question, he said that he had lived for 42 days only to atone for the sin that had happened in front of his eyes and he could not stop it. According to Shrimad Bhagwat Katha, 34 days had passed since the end of the Mahabharata war. After the coronation in Hastinapur, on the day of Makar Sankranti, Yudhishthira reached Kurukshetra with Lord Krishna to meet Bhishma. There Lord Krishna requested Bhishma to teach Yudhishthira the duty of kingship.
Draupadi laughed at Bhishma's advice
Accepting this request, Bhishma asked all the Pandavas including Yudhishthira to concentrate completely and started preaching. During this time, Bhishma said that a Kshatriya should never see sins happening. Doing so is a big sin and even if his neck gets cut in stopping this sin, he should not care about it. Bhishma was preaching when Queen Draupadi, standing with the Pandavas, started laughing. Seeing her laughing, Bhishma stopped his sermon and asked Draupadi the reason for laughing in the middle of a serious topic.
52 days of pain to atone for
At that time Draupadi said that whatever advice he is giving to the Pandavas, he himself has done it. While saying this, Draupadi reminded Bhishma of those moments when Dushasan was disrobing her in Bhishma's presence. Draupadi said that even though he did not see this scene, he had pleaded for help by taking his name. Despite this, he remained silent in the Rajya Sabha. Hearing this, Bhishma's eyes welled up with tears. He said that Draupadi is absolutely right. This sin was committed in his life and to atone for this sin, he is bearing the pain equivalent to the stings of 10 thousand scorpions by lying on the bed of arrows for 52 days.
He gave up his body on the day of Makar Sankranti
Let us tell you that the Mahabharata war lasted for 18 days. In this war, Pitamah Bhishma himself was the commander of the Kaurava army for 10 days. He was defeated on the 10th day. After this, the responsibility of the commander was given to Guru Drona. The Mahabharata war continued for 8 days after this incident. In these eight days, all the Kauravas attained martyrdom and Yudhishthira ruled Hastinapur. Despite this, Bhishma remained alive for 34 days and on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, he gave up his body after seeing the beautiful form of Lord Krishna.
