When night was over, Bhishm woke up. He thought about his dream and was extremely delighted. Remembering the method of summoning and using prasvapan and sambodhana, the son of Shantanu, went to the battlefield.

Then once again, a tumultuous battle ensued between the Guru and the shishya. It was extraordinary for all beings and made the body hair stand up.

Parshuram shot a net of arrows at Bhishm, who successfully countered them all. Thereupon, the great ascetic was again supremely enraged. He angrily hurled a spear at Gangeya. It was like Indra’s vajra to the touch. It was as resplendent as Yama’s staff. It flamed like the fire and licked all directions of that field of battle.

With great force, it struck Bhishm on the shoulder. Thus wounded by the mighty-armed Jamdagneya, whose eyes were red, terrible streams of blood began to flow from Gangeya's shoulder, like minerals streaming from mountains.

Bhishm became extremely angry at Parshuram and hurled an arrow at him. It was like death, like the poison of serpents. Jamdagneya was struck on the forehead by it. The bhrighunandan became even more angry, and began shooting arrows.

And thus the battle continued. Terrible spears were hurled, hundreds and thousands of arrows were shot, and even Brahmastra was used and countered each other in mid air.

Because of the energy of those weapons, the rishis, the gandharvas and the gods were extremely tormented and oppressed. The earth, with its mountains, forests and trees, trembled. All the beings were supremely afflicted.

The sky blazed. The ten directions were full of smoke. Those that were in the sky were no longer capable of remaining in the firmament. There was a great lamentation in the world, with the gods, the asuras and the rakshasas.

Bhishm decided that now was the perfect time to use his beloved weapon prasvapan, as those 8 Brahmans asked him to.

At this, there was the sound of a great tumult in the sky.

"Kurunandan ! Prasvapan ka prayog na karo !" Narad Muni said appearing before them.

But Bhishm still aimed that weapon at Parshuram. While he was aiming the prasvapan, Narad said, "Parshuram Brahaman hai. Anant tapas hai unme. Woh tumhare Guru hai. Prasvapan ka prayog kar unka anadar na karo."

Then Bhishm saw those eight Brahmans, stationed at the sky. They smiled and spoke softly to him, "Bharatvanshi, jaisa Narad keh rahe hai waisa karo. Sabke hit mei yahi hoga."

Thus Bhishm, withdrew the prasvapan weapon. Instead, he readied a blazing Brahmastra. But having seen him not shoot prasvapan, Parshuram muttered with a smile, "Mujhe Bhishm ne jeet liya."

But then Parshuram saw his father Jamdagni, his grandfather Richika and his great-grandfather, descending down from the sky and coming towards him.

They surrounded him and in a comforting voice they said, "Parshuram, iss prakar ka sahas na karo, visheshkar tab jab tum Bhishm jaise kshatriya se yudh kar rahe ho. Iske saath yudh mei utarna tumhare liye uchit nahi. Shashtra neeche karlo. Bhishm ko bhi sabhi devta ne ab aur yudh karne se mana kiya hai."

Richika said, "Bhishm koi aur nahi, swayam Vasu Dyou hai. Woh tumse kaise parajit ho sakta hai ? Parshuram, piche hatt jaao."

With a smile on face, Jamdagneya said, "अर्जुनः पाण्डवश्रेष्ठः पुरंदरसुतो बली ||
नरः प्रजापतिर्वीरः पूर्वदेवः सनातनः ।
सव्यसाचीति विख्यातस्त्रिषु लोकेषु वीर्यवान्।भीष्ममृत्युर्यथाकालं विहितो वै स्वयम्भुवा ॥"
(The ancient and eternal god, Prajapati Nara, shall appear as the son of Indra, Pandavshresht Mahabali Arjun. Due to his valour, he will be famous in the lokas as Savyasachi. Brahma himself, has appointed him to be the cause of Bhishm's death.)

"Putra, yeh yudh ka tyaag karo." Jamdagni said.

"Pitashree, mai kabhi bhi kisi yudh se pehle piche nahi hata. Yeh mera pran hai. Mai yudh karna nahi chhodunga." Parshuram said.

Then those sages, with Richika at the forefront and with Narada, approached Bhishm, urging him not continue this fight and withdraw.

But Bhishm too was in denial, "Yudh se piche hatna kshatriya dharm ke virudh hai. Mai kabhi bhi apne dharm ka tyaag nahi karunga !" Firm in my resolution to continue fighting, I stood in that field
of battle, with a brahmastra fixed to his bow.

"Aap dono hi yudh se nivrit honge." Said a firm voice. capturing the attention of both warriors.

Their eyes glanced upward, drawn to the remarkable sight above them. In the expanse of the darkening sky, a radiant goddess appeared, seated upon a regal throne.

"Brahmastra wapas lo, Bhishm." The queen of all kings, Aryabharti, said.

Bhishm obeyed and took back the Brahmastra with a solemn nod.

"Ab aap dono hi iss yudh se piche hat jaaye." She said.

"Nahi !" They both said unison, neither of them ready to withdraw.

Her voice, now infused with a tangible anger, reverberated throughout the battlefield, "Vasundhara meri putri hai, yeh bhoomi mere aadhin hai. Akhand Maharani hu mai Aryavart ki. Yaha mera aadesh maanne ke liye sab baadhya hai !"

On seeing that Parshuram had withdrawn because of the words of Akhand Maharani, for the welfare of the world, Bhishm acted in accordance with her order. He was severely wounded, but still went up to his Guru and honoured him.

"Bhishm, satya mei iss sansaar mei tumhare jaisa koi kshatriya nahi. Jaao. Mai tumse prasann hu." Parshuram said with a smile.

In Bhishm's presence, Bhargava-Ram summoned Amba. In the midst of those ascetics, he told her, "Bhishm ko mai parast nahi kar paya, putri. Tumhe ab jaha jaane ki iccha hai waha jaao. Chaaho, toh Bhishm ke sharan mei jaao, anyatha tumhare paas koi anya maarg nahi. Iss yudh mei Bhishm ne toh mujhe jeet liya hai." Parshuram sighed and became silent.

Hearing this, Amba said, "Yeh satya hai ki Bhishm ko koi bhi parajit nahi kar sakta. Parantu mai kisi bhi mulya par, Gangeya ke sharan mei nahi jayungi. Bhrighushest tapodhan, ab mai wahi jayungi, jaha aisi ban saku, ki yudh bhoomi mei swayam Bhishm ko maar girayu."

With eyes red in anger, she glanced up at Aryabharti, and joined her hands.

"Akhand Maharani, kya aapke iss bhoomi par koi hai jo mujhe sharan de ? Kya mere liye koi sthaan hai ?" She asked.

Aryabharti smiled sadly at her and said, "Amba, tumhare saath jo huya woh kisi bhi kanya ke saath nahi hona chahiye. Parivaar-jan hote huye bhi tum anaath jaise bhatak rahi ho. Parantu niraash na ho, kyuki jise koi sharan nahi deta, use Mahadev awashya sharan dete hai."

Amba bowed her head, before looking back at Bhishm. Seeing her terrible anger, the son of Shantanu could feel fear creeping in his heart. For he knew that no one would be able to restrain her now, and she would indeed become the cause of his death.

---------

From the moment the princess of Kashi left for the forest to perform austerities, Bhishm was miserable and wretched. It was as if he had lost his senses. He knew that no kshatriya could vanquish him in battle with valour, except one who knows about the Brahm, has performed austerities and is rigid in his vows.

Bhishm instructed wise men to watch over the Amba's doings and from one day to another, they reported to him her goings, words and deeds.

Lying on his bed, Bhishm kept thinking about his death. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, as fear of his own demise clutched his heart.

"Amba.... Arjun...." He muttered remembering the words of the sages from the battlefield.

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A/N

To those who say that Bhishm was stronger than Arjun.... Let's do some maths that's mathing-

8 Vasus form the 33 koti devta, that is, the best 33 types of gods. Among the Vasus, Pitamah is Dyou, the foremost of them. But Rudras are stronger than Vasus.... And Adityas are stronger than Rudras... Among Adityas.... Indra is the foremost. Indra is the strongest among all the gods of Swarglok.

Arjun is stronger than Indra (Because he defeats Nivat-kavachas, which Indra couldn't, and Devraj asks him to; also Arjun defeats Devraj in Khandav dahan)

Now if the math is mathing, calculate how much more stronger Arjun is than Bhishm.